Cultural History Of Gujarat

Mangala-Kalasa: by Rasiklal Parikh
Tlic auspicious VVater-])ot with petals of lotuses :

Held in hand by a typical Gujarati lady in holy reverence.

CULTURAL HISTORY
OF GUJARAT

I From £arly times to Pre-British period]

With « Map. 89 Art -plates in Monocrome and 4 In Colour

M. R. MAJMUDAR

N a ray ana Mahadeva Paramananda Prizeman 1941,
Springer Research Scholar 1947-49,
and Thakkar Vasanji Lecturer 1952, University of Bombay :
General Editor, Historical & Cultural Chronology of GujaraL
M, S. University of Baroda,

Foreword by
G. S. GHURYE

Emeritus Professor of Sociology
University of Bombay

BOMBAY

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FOREWORD

Cultural History of Gujarat presents a connected account of many
traits of the regional culture, which may be shortly styled ‘Gujarat!
culture’, as they have been over a period of about eighteen hundred years.
It is both a timely and a significant work.

The Constitution of India in Article 351 declares the culture of India
to be ‘composite’. It enjoins the Union Government to develop Hindi, the
official language of the Union, in such a manner as to make it an efficient
medium for ‘all the elements of the composite culture’.

The different ‘elements’ or the components that make up this ‘com-
posite culture’ are neither enumerated nor even mentioned. Minorities,
however, are specified. They are either religious or linguistic, and may
also be ‘cultural’.

Article 29 states: ‘Any section of the citizens residing in the territory
of India or an/ part thereof having a distinct language, script or culture
of its own shall have the right to conserve the same.’ One has to take
it that the ‘elements’ of the ‘composite culture’ of Article 351 and ‘distinct
culture’ of Article 29 connote the same thing, though use of the adjective
‘distinct’ in the latter place may, imply a difference.

If one insists on the difference, the culture of India cannot be des-
cribed even as ‘composite’. For, ‘distinct’ cultures cannot make even a
composite whole. In the context of the controversies on linguistic states

Viii CULTURAL HISTORY OP GUJARAT

the ‘elements’ of the ‘composite culture’ that first deserve to be fully
known and understood are, of course, the ‘regional’ ones.

Dr. M. R. Majmudar’s Cultural History of Gujarat is, therefore, a
timely work. It is a significant work, because of what the history of one
‘regional’ culture can teach us about the elwnents of our composite culture,
and also, because it concerns the culture of a region which has a longer
traditional and archaeological history than most othor regions of India
(Bharat). It deals with culture of a region, and from a time, where and
when quietistic and passivist Jaina religion was nurtured, though it was
born in the far off eastern region of Bihar some centuries earlier.

Dr. Majmudar has been known as a litterateur, ‘sakshara’ as they
say it in Gujarati, for over a quarter of a century. For an equally long
period he has been concerned in bringing to the notice of the artistic
public the Miniature paintings and the sculptural and iconographic wealth
of Gujarat.

Competently qualified and mellowed in years and knowledge.
Dr. Majmudar has given, in his Cultural History of Gujarat, to the read-
ing public an interesting and instructive book.

G. S. Ghurye

Emeritus Professor of Sociology

PREFACE

I

Gujarat has been a familiar name among tourists in India for quite
a long time, though it was not a separate State. Its typical art and cul-
ture and its association with the birth-places of and institutions established
by both Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel have been some
of the most modern powerful attractions. The recent oil-finds at Lunej in
Cambay and at Hajat in Ankleswar have further attracted the country’s
attention to Gujarat. Kandla, one of the major ports of India, is also
situated on the northern border of Gujarat.

The recent archaeological finds at Lothal near Dhandhuka, Ahmedabad
Dist., and some sites like Rozdi in Saurastra tell us the history of Gujarat
of 3,500 years ago, the times of Harappa and Mohen-jo-Daro culture. The
Epics and Puranas tell us how Lord K|‘$na and Balarama evacuated
Mathura as a result of Jarasandha’s pressure of invasions, and how they
established themselves at Kusathali, afterwards known as Dwarka.

Gujarat broadly covers the regions of EUaccha, Saura^ra and the
territories between the rivers Banas and Damanganga. Rivers like the
Banas, Sabarmati, Mahi, Tap! and Narmada on the coastal plains, and
Bhadar, Setrunji and Bhogavo on the peninsular plains keep its fertile
lands green. Except in the arid zones of Surondranagar and North
Gujarat, the rainfall in Gujarat varies between 25 and 50 inches.

A large part of the southern border line of Gujarat is covered with
hills which are the tails of the mountains lying outside the State.
There are also the rich forests full of various games, the rarest among
which is the lion, which is found in the Gir forest of Saurastra. The Gir
lions are the only species found in the whole of Asia to-day.

Gujarat’s mountains, though not as lofty as the Himalayas, are rich
in scenic beauty and have been closely associated with the religious and
historical currents of Gujarat’s life. Most prominent among these are the
Girnar, the Setrunjo, the Cotilo, the Bardo, the Arasur, the Pavagadh
and the Taranga hills. The Girnar near Junagadh has a flame-like
appearance and many a romantic tale is associated with it. The Setrunjo
has famous Jaina temples of marble on it, and is known as a ‘temple-city’.

As the Tropic of Cancer passes through Gujarat’s northern border,
it has an intensely hot or cold climate. But the Arabian Sea and the Gulf
of Cambay washing its western coast reduce the temperature and render

X

CULTURAL HISTORY OF OUJARAT

the climate pleasant and healthy. The presence of the forest>covered
rugged mountains and hills on the eastern boundary also help to reduce
the intensity of climate. The period from October to February is the
most suitable season for tourists.

The people of Gujarat are courageous and enterprising. Though not
stout in physique, they are gentle and have created a legend of their
courage, patriotism, valour, chivalry and hospitality. Another distinguish-
ing quality of Gujaratis has been their flair for incessant mercantile and
maritime activities. Proximity to the sea coupled with the spirit of enter-
prise has made the Gujaratis explore new horizons, which in turn, has
fostered in them sound practical wisdom, catholicity of taste and social
flexibility and amiability.

Gujarat has distinct traditions of song and dance as well as drama.
The best known among these are the Garaba, Garabi and Rasa. The folk-
drama in Gujarat is known as Bhaval. There are also some folk-dances
prevalent among the tribal people of Gujarat — ^the Bhils, Dangis, Mers.
Kathis, Kolis and others.

The land of Gujarat is practically studded with a number of places
of pilgrimage which are so expressive of its varied culture. Prominent
among these are Dwarka, Prabhas Patan, Satrunjaya, Gimar, Siddhapura,
Udwada, Kotesvara, Narayana Sarovara and Bhadresvara.

Gujarat derives its name from the Prakrit ‘Gujjaratta’, i.e. Gurjara
Rastra, and means the ‘land of the Gurjaras’. The Gurjaras are believed
to be an immigrant tribe who entered India along with the Hunas who
settled in Rajasthan. The Gurjaras, since called Arbudas, passed through
the Punjab and settled in some parts of Mt. Arbuda. These areas came to
be known in due course as Gujarat, a name which became popular about
the 10th century.

The early history of Gujarat is full of the imperial grandeur of
Candragupta Maurya whose powerful forces conquered the earlier states
of Gujarat. It is said that a Vaisya called Pusyagupta ruled at Junagadh,
as the governor of Maurya emperor in the last years of 3rd century B.C.
It was Asoka, grandson of Candragupta, who left an everlasting memorial
of his spiritual empire as mentioned in his famous edicts engraved on
the rock at Junagadh.

On the decline of the Mauryan empire, there was a Greek incursion
led by Demetrius and the evidence of its contact with the Hellenistic world
is shown by the And of numerous Greek and Roman coins in this region.

From the first century A.D. to the beginning of the 5th century A.D.,
Satrapas, known as Ksatrapas, the name of Rudradaman (150 A.D.) stands
out forcefully from the inscription on the above-mentioned rock at
Junagadh.

PiOFACiE

xl

The K^atrapa regime was replaced by the Guptas. It was Candragupta n
(Vikramaditya) who conquered Gujarat and issued a new silver coin. His
successor Skahdagupta has left an inscription (452 A.D.) on the same
famous rock at Junagadh, which mentions how his governors, Parnadatta
and CakrapWta had repaired the embankment of the lake Sudarsana con-
structed by the orders of Candragupta, and how it was once restored by
the orders of Rudradaman after it was damaged by heavy floods.

As Gupta power declined around the middle of the 5th century A.D.,
Senapati Bhattarka, the Maitraka general of the Guptas, established him-
self in Saura^ti'a with his new capital at Valabhipura. Maitrakas of Valabhi
were very powerful and they dominated large parts of Gujarat and even
Malwa. Valabhipura not only became famous as the seat of a powerful
kingdom, but could boast of a well-known University which could be com-
pared with Nalahda.

Cavadas (880-942 A.D.) who were the vassals of the Valabhis, held
sway over some parts of north Gujarat and became independent with
the fall of Valabhi. Of the eight rulers of the Cavada dynasty, the name
of Vanaraja, the founder of the dynasty, stands out most prominently. It
was he who. founded the capital of Gujarat at Anahilpura Patan, which
was destined to play a great role in the history oif Gujarat.

Solahkis or Culukkis got the throne of Gujarat as a result of adoption
of Mularaja by the last Cavada ruler Samahtasiihha. Mularaja gave gene-
rous grants to learned Brahmins who were invited from different parts of
the country, especially from the North, and settled them in Gujarat.

He established his complete hold over Saurastra and Kaccha by
defeating Graharipu of Junagadh and Lakho Fulani of Kaccha. Of the
other ten rulers of the Solanki dynasty, the names of Siddharaja Jaya-
simha (1094-1143) and Kumarapala (1134-1174) are prominent.

The story of Siddharaja Jayasiihha besieging the Junagadh fort and
ultimately capturing it along with Ranakdevi, the wife of the ruler,
Ra Khehgar, who became ‘sati’ at Wadhwan, though not supported by
history, has become a popular legend of the bards.

Lord Somanatha at Prabhasa was the chief god of the Solahkis. The
temple of Somanatha was sacked twice during the Solanki regime and
it was Kumarapala who reconstructed it. It is now rebuilt on the old
site during the years 1950-62, after the Indian Independence.

Vaghelas (1222-1298), who were formerly in the service of the Solanki
rulers, founded a powerful dynasty after the decline of the Solahkis. Of
the eight Vaghela rulers, Viradhavala (1233-1238) and Visaladeva (1243-
1261) were mainly responsible for stabilising the prosperity of Gujarat
after the fall of the Solahkis. The regime of Viradhavala is noted for

xii

CULTORAL HSTORY OF GUJARAT

the successful administration of his two most distinguished Amatyas,
Vastup^a and Tejahpala, who built the magnificent temples at Abu,
Kumbharia, Girnar and Satrunjaya.

It was Vi^adeva who built the famous fort and temple of Vaidya-
natha at Dabhoi and founded Vi^lnagar in North Gujarat.

Karan Vaghela was the last ruler, who for ever lost the Rajaput hold
over Gujarat against the superior forces of Sultan AlSuddin Khilji.

The reign of Sultan Alauddin Khilji of Delhi witnessed the creation
of the first Muslim empire in India and among the earliest victims of
his conquests was the wealthy and prosperous Hindu kingdom of Gujarat.

The period of Muslim domination over Gujarat which began with the
downfall of Vaghela rule in about 1300 A.D. extended for over 400 years,
and ended roughly with the final defeat of the Mughal Viceroy, Momin-
khan by the Marthas, and the capture of Ahmedabad by them in 1758 A.D.
In the beginning, Gujarat witnessed the largescale demolition of Soma-
natha-Patan and Cambay, and the Khilji and Tughlaq Sultans of Delhi held
their sway over Gujarat till 1409, when the powerful dynasty of the
Sultans of Gujarat established their independent rule.

Of the 15 Sultans, who ruled for a period of 166 years, mention must
be made of Ahmad Shah I (1411-1442), the founder of Ahmedabad, and
Mahmud I (1458-1511), known as Mahmud Begada, for their long rule
during which Gujarat again recovered from the past ravages and plunders.

The Mughals ruled over Gujarat from the time of Akbar's conquest
in 1573 A.D. onwards, through their Subedars and Thanedars, for a period
of nearly 185 years, during which regime Gujarat was treated as a Subah
of the Mughal empire, royal princes being appointed as Governors.

Within a few decades of the death of Aurangzeb, the Mughal suzerainty
was largely affected by the growing Maratha power. The House of
Gaikwad rose into prominence in Gujarat, and in course of time held
sway over some parts of Gujarat and Saura$toa, and then became
independent.

•

The first European power in Gujarat were the Portuguese who settled
at Div, a small island on the southern coast of Saura^tra, in the year
1537. The English came in wake of the Portuguese, entered Surat in
Gujarat with the intention of trade, and then stayed as a suzerain power
till 1947, when India became free.

At that time, there were a number of princely States, especially in
Saurastra. The process of the merger of these States started in the year
1948. In that year, the ‘United States of Saurastra’ was formed. In sub-
sequent years, other States also merged into the then Bombay State,

PBETACE

xiii

Out of these merged States, the new districts of S&barka:(itha,
Banaska^tha, MehsSnS, Amreli and Baroda were created ; and in the year
1956, the entire State of Saura$tra was merged with the bigger bilingual
State of Bombay. With the reorganisation of the Bombay State in May
1960 again, the ‘State of Gujarat* was formed as the Fifteenth State of the
Indian Republic.

n

The nature of the life and literature which give to a country a
living unity depend mainly upon its geographical peculiarities; the
economic factors which develop common interests and aptitude among its
inhabitants ; and the cultural influences which glisten through the fabric
of social and religious institutions. These determinants impose the
national character upon the people and upon all they do and express.

In terms of Human Geography, Gujarflt may be described as a
‘Provincial State’ within a ‘National State’, thus accoimting for the unity
in diversity of Indian culture. India is a vast country with regions dif-
fering in customs and climates, in fauna and flora, in art and architecture,
in language and literature and even in men and manners. The diversity
underlying the cultural imity, however, has enriched the country as a
whole, and affords an interesting study to the scholar as also to the
layman.

Western India has been from the remotest times a busy field of actions,
re-actions and inter-actions of many an ethnic and linguistic force in the
continent. Wave after wave of nations and races had swept over its
face with their peculiar social and political institutions, languages, creeds
and culture as varied and variegated as themselves. Thus Gujarat has
been a field of conquering and settling races.

Each of these hordes brought with it, its own language, arts and
crafts, poetry, thought-forms, social practices, historical traditions, reli-
gions, life and philosophy. Repeated immigrations from the north from
that of the SakaS onwards also resulted in a fusion of heterogeneous
traditions of Gujarat, which has made it an interesting province in more
than one sense.

Besides the early settlement of Aryans in Saurastra, Anarta and
Apar^ta, who came by land, there were a large number of foreigners —
Persians, Arabs and Africans — ^who came by sea, mostly through the ports
of Saurastra for purposes of shelter, trade and conquest ; and during the
centuries before and after the Christian era, hordes of Central Asian
Kuipanas, Hunas, and other tribes came to swell their number. These
foreigners settled in the province, and became so mixed up with the

xiv

CULTURAl. HISTORY OF GUJARAT

Aryans that the Dharmasdstras considered it a ‘Mlechha’ country, and
forbade visits to it, except for the sake of pilgrimage.

These foreigners were either absorbed by the existing castes, or
formed new castes of their own ; and the once holy land of Gujarit
became a land of strangers ; and became pre>emin'ently 'a land of sub-
castes’. In no part of India are the sub-divisions of communities so
minute, either in theory or in practice.

By virtue of a long coast-line with several convenient anchorages,
and by its proximity to the commercial and cultural zones of East Africa
and Asia, Gujarat has been long exposed to the movements of peoples
and to commercial and cultural contacts from these regions.

The maritime activity of Gujarat was not restricted merely to com-
merce. So early as circa B.C. 500, Prince Vijaya sailed from Sirhhapura
tSihor) near modern Bhavnagar and settled in Ceylon ; and since then
it had a close maritime intercourse with Bharukaccha and Surparaka.

In the seventh century, a ruler of Gujarat, forewarned of the impend-
ing doom which was to overtake his kingdom, sailed away with his fol-
lowers from his native soil in six large and a hundred small vessels to
lay the foimdalion of a new civilization in Java. Gujarat maintained
a colony there, and the wealth brought from Java has passed into a
popular proverb.

Gujarati sailors, according to the authority of Vasco-de-Gama, knew
how to guide their ships not only by the stars but by nautical instru-
ments of their own. The Sultans of Gujarat proudly bore the title of
“Lord of the Sea” ; and the Sanger Rajaputs of Kaccha and Navanagar
were well-known for their skill in ship-building during the Sultanate.
The East India Company, in circa 1735 A.D., found in Dhunjibhai of Surat,
a master-architect of ships. Early in the nineteenth century, Motishah,
a Jaina merchant, owned the largest mercantile fleet in Bombay. In
the 20th century, Gujarati merchants had floated the only inter-continental
Steamship Company of India, the ‘Sindhias’, which thus was the result of
Gujarati enterprise. •

The elements of various cultures were assimilated or adopted by the
original occupants of Gujarat through commerce by land and by sea.
Egypt, Arabia, Persia, China and other countries beyond the seas have
played their role in this process through centuries of culture-contacts.
So also other parts of India around Gujarat have helped this medley of
culture-assimilation.

The persistent maritime activities of the people of Gujarat through
the ages, led to the rise among them of a well-to-do middle class which

l>BkrAai

XV

dominated social life, influenced politics, laid down traditioxis and shared
with kings the patronage of arts and literature.

The ‘middle class’ or the ‘Mahajan’ was a real representative of the
heart of GujarSt culture, which distinguishes itself quite prominently
from those in other provinces, where society is mainly comprised of two
classes — ^the labourer and the landlord. In Gujarat the middle class forms
a preponderant element ; and the authority wielded by its Mahajan is
sometimes far-reaching than that of the rulers. The crafts and trades of
each city in Gujarat had a guild of their own. The Mandasor inscriptions
(437 and 473 A.D.) desciibe the constitution and fimctions of a typical lay-
guild of silk-weavers of the 5th century who had migrated from Lata.
What was true of the fifth, was also true of the later centuries.

Acquisition of wealth became an important if not the sole end of
life, and the display of it a great virtue. The cosmopolitan spirit of this
class,, born of international intercourse, did not favour an ascetical or
exclusive outlook on life, but fostered the instinct of adaptability and
catholicity of spirit.

m

The Gujarati people may be distinguished in four distinct culture-
zones ; formed on the basis of the contours of the land ; —

(1) The people of Kaccha, a low and arid region with less than 15
inches of annual rainfall, are hardy, and endowed with a rare spirit of
enterprise and a wonderful gift for business organisation.

(2) The people of peninsula of Saurastra, which has a plateau in the
centre, radially sloping to a narrow belt of coastal plains with good ports,
and has a moderate rainfall (20 to 40 inches) and a good forest cover,
are hardy and hospitable, and have a long maritime as well as martial
tradition. They are artistic, and have a wealth of romantic and devotional
literature also.

Saurastra is* referred to in the Epics, the Puranas and classical
Sanskrit literature, as also by foreigners like Strabo, Pliny, Ptolemy,
Periplus and Huen Tsang. It was called ‘Sura§tra’, also, as it was famous
for its natural wealth, which impressed a stranger, as we know from the
Periplus.

(3) The coastal Gujarat with its northern extension falls into two
sub-zones ;

(i) North Gujarat, i.e. the coimtry between Mt. Abu and the Mahi
river, is arid (15-20 inches of rainfall) and merges gradually into the

xviii

CULTUBAL HKTORY OF OUJABAT

This study has emerged out of a thesis originally submitted for MA
degree from the Bombay University School of Economics and Sociology
in 1929, since revised and almost re-written to bring it up-to-date. It may
be mentioned at the outset that Prof. E. Barker’s study of ‘National
Character’ (1924) has served me as a good model for interpreting social
and cultural life of the Gujaratis during the course of its history.

Whatever there is in this book of beauty or truth bears witness to
the help and encouragement of various friends and elders. But the
writer holds himself entirely responsible for the execution of the work
as a whole, and for the opinions and theories set forth therein.

VII

My primary thanks are due to my teachers, Dr. G. S. Ghurye and
the late Dr. N. A. Thoothi, for encouraging me to undertake this study
as a Research Student of the Sociology Department. My thanks are due
to Dr. Ghurye who has shown keen interest in all my research activities
since then. I thank him once more for agreeing to sponsor this revised
study of mine with a ‘Foreword’.

I can but passingly refer to Dr. K. M. Munshi, (the late) Divan
Bahadur K. M. Jhaveri and (the late) Rajaratna Ramanlal V. Desai, all
of whom evinced more than a passing interest in this study of mine and
desired to see it early in print. I am obliged to Dr. A. R. Desai, of the
Bombay University Department of Sociology, a worthy son of Shri
Ramanlal Desai, for helping me to see their wish fulfilled.

I am obliged to Dr. Hansabahen Mehta and Dr. Jyotindra Mehta, the
Vice-Chancellors of the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda and its
Publication Board for sanctioning a substantial grant towards publication
of this Cultural Study of Gujarat by an old boy of the original Baroda
College.

I remember with a sense of deep gratitude the interest taken by
(now the late) Dr. Benoytosh Bhattacarya, Director, Baroda Oriental
Institute (retired), and Srimati Raihanabahen Abbas Taiyabji, now of the
Gandhi Smriti Bhavan, Rajaghat, New Delhi, for patiently revising my
first draft, with untiring zeal and devotion.

I cannot forget the help rendered by Dr. M. N. Shrinivas and Prof.
C. M. Shukla in going through the final revision. Prof. Purushottam Patel
of the English Department, also helped me in this work.

I thank Prof. Chandramouli Majmudar, my son, Kumari Shraddhadevi,
M.A., my daughter, and Mrs. Parimalfi, B.A., LL.B., my daughter-in-law,
for preparing the ‘Index’ at a very short notice.

niSFACE xix

In order to make the text of the chapters more explicit and con>
vincing, it was deemed necessary to enliven the solid printed matter with
suitable illustrations.

I am very much obliged to the various institutions and indivi-
duals who have spontaneously spared the requisite blocks for this
self-imposed mission. I am especially laid under a deep gratitude
by Shri B. L. Mankad, Director, Baroda Museiun and Picture Gallery,
Dr. B. J. Sandesara, Director, Oriental Institute, M. S. University of
Baroda, Shri K. V. Saunder Rajan, Superintendent of Archaeology,
Western Circle, Baroda, Shri M. H. Shah, Director of Information, Gov-
ernment of Gujarat, Shri Bachubhai Ravat, Managing Editor, Kumar, Shri
Champshibhai Udeshi, Managing Editor, Navachetan and other individuals
whose courtesy for the loan of blocks has been fully acknowledged after the
“Descriptive List of Art-Plates”.

The credit of the actual carrying out of this scheme of textual illustra-
tions goes to the liberal outlook evinced by Shri Ramdas Bhatkal of Popular
Prakashan, Bombay. My heartiest thanks are due to him for this. And
who can forget the printers of the Mouj Printing Bureau, especially Shri
V. P. Bhagwat, who is responsible for the entire execution ?

At the end, I am very much obliged to Padma-Shri Ravishahkar Raval,
the noted veteran Artist and art-critic of Gujarat, and Shri Bachubhai
Ravat — both seasoned Editors of the Cultural Gujarati-Art-monthly Kumar,
running its forty-first year, for having brought their sound judgement to
bear upon the selection of the Art-plates, without which the quality of the
illustrations might have suffered a great deal.

“Chaitanyadham,”
34, Pratapganj,
Baroda 2.

M. R. Majmudah

CONTENTS

Foreword by Dr. G. S. Ghurye vii

Preface ix

(I) Gujarat from the tourist’s point of view : Climate, rainfall, suitable
season; Places of Interest; People, their distinguishing features; Cultural
life; A resume of Gujarat Through the Ages; Name * Gujarat Fifteenth
State of Indian Republic, since May 1960, with a population of 20 millions.

(II) Gujarat— a Provincial State within a ‘National State’; Cultural Unity of
India, underlying the diversity in customs and climate, flora and fauna, art
and architecture, language and literature, men and manners. Gujarat a
busy held of actions, re-actions and inter-actions of ethnic and linguistic
forces : Maritime activities led to Cosmopolitan nature of the people. (Ill)
Four distinct Culture-Zones in Gujarat formed on the contours of the land.
(IV) Cultural homogeneity of the sub-divisions asserted itself with the
development of Maritime trade. (V) Occupational folk-element in the
people helped the shaping of the artistic tendencies. (VI) The genesis of
the Study. (VII) Thanksgiving.

Descriptive List of Art— plates : I-LXXXIX xxvii

Map of Gujarat & Adjacent areas : Physical Features

Acknowledgment for Photographs & Blocks xxv

Introduction : The Scheme of Study 1-10

Society in Gujarat 1; Scheme and Method of approach 2; Period of Study 5;
Relation between Life and Literature 6: Sources 7; Culture and Cultural
history 9.

Chapter I : The Geographical Factor : Territory and Climate 11-33

Gujarat : Position and boundaries 11; Pre-and Proto-history 12-13; Lata,
Anarta, Saurastra, Kaccha and Aparahta 14-16; Three Culture-Zones 17;
Name ‘Gujarat’, a political unit 18-20; A country makes its inhabitants—
External shape and frontiers— Their influence on the life of a nation— On
Government and foreign policy 20; Internal contents : Minerals, Building-
stone; agate 21; Iron, Saltpetre 22, Sand, Mineral Springs 23; Petroleum
and Natural Gas 24; Fauna of the land : Gujarat cattle 25; Buffaloes 26;
Horses 27; Lion and Elephant 28-29; Flora : Forests 29; Soil and River-
courses 30; Climate, temperature 31; Climatic influence— the great geogra-
phical determinants in history : the sea and mountains : the plains 32-33.

/

Chapter II : The Genetic Factor : Race and Caste 34-49.

Race : Early tribes & Aryan settlements 34-35; Influx of foreigners— A
mleccha country 36; Sub-divisions : Visa and Da.^a 37fn; Conversion to
Hinduism 38; Mahomedans in Gujarat 38-39; The Parsis 40; Caste : Racial
and Occupational 40; Brahmins 41; K^atriyas 45; Vaisyas 46; Sudras 48;

xxii

CULTURAL HISTORY OP GUJARAT

Matrimonial aspect : Growth of sub-castes : 84 sub-divisions— The A<lhara
Varna, nine Naru and five Karu 47; Sudra sub-sections 48; rise in social
status 49.

Chapter III : The Economic Factor : Population and Occupation 50-88

Stages of Aryan immigration 50; Growth of population in Saurastra 51; in
Mainland of Gujarat— Carotar, Vakal and Kanham 52; Population, effect of
occupations 52; Agriculture, main occupation 53; Importance of monsoons
54; Historic famines— ‘Pafidarotaro' 54; ^Sitasio’ 55; Famine-relief by Shah
Jahan on Second ‘Sitasio’ 56; References in literature 57; ^Agnotaro’
58; Epidemics and floods 61; Migrations due to famine 62; Trade, second
main occupation ; Inland trade-routes 63-66; Maritime routes 67; Trade at
various ports 71; Ban jar as— carriers on land 72; Spirit of colonization 73;
Gujaratis as seafarers, trade with north-west by Vayada Vaisyas 76; Ship-
building industry 76-78; Manufacture, third main occupation 78; cotton
manufacture 81; Arts and Crafts : Tie-dyeing 86; Embroidery 87; Patola
silk-weaving 87-88.

Chapter IV : The Temporal Factor : Political Heritage : Law and

Government 89-137

Law and Government, the State 39; Political background : (i) Early period :
300 B.C.-746 A.D. 90-95; (ii) The Anhilwad Kings 746-1300 A.D. 95-106; (iii)
Period of Mahomedan rule: 1300-1752 A.D, 106-112; (iv) The Marathas :
1752-1818 A. D. 112-114; (v) Ancient Republics in Gujarat 114-116; (vi)
Ideal of Kingship 117-119; Revenue and Taxation 119-122; (vii) Coinage
122-130; (viii) Law and Administration 130-132; (ix) Public Service 132-137.

Chapter V : The Social Factor : Marriage and Family 138->167

Institution of marriage, adjustment between sexes 138; family 139; Joint
Hindu Family 139; Shortcomings of 140; Disintegrating tendency 141;
Discord in family life 142-144; Structure of Hindu Society 145; Ceremony
of marriage 146; Marriage, a sacrament 147; Widow-remarriage 148;
Child-marriages 149; Female-infanticide and status of a female child 151;
Widows position in the family 153; Sati rites 155; Origin of Sati 156;
Natra marriage 156; Social evils arising out of marriage : Sale of girls 157;
Marriage with old men 158; Child-husband 159; Premature motherhood 160;
Polygamy 161-162; Co-wives 163; Seclusion of women : Pardah 163; Eco-
nomic status of a woman 164; Woman-kind of Gujarat 165; Ideal of a happy
home 166-167. «

Chapter VI ; Social and Economic Organisations : Communal Life 168-200

Village, the unit of all organisations 168; Typical Gujarat Village 170;
Administrative unit 171; Village Officers 172-173; Village Council 174-175;
Settlement of village disputes 176; Village Paficayat 177; Grain-share
178-182; Village well and temple 183; Communal life 184; Ideal and actual
pictures of Brahmins 185; Rajaputs 186-188; Banias— Rise of the Middle
class in Gujarat 189; Hereditary Artisan classes, crafts and trade-guilds
191; Spinning, a home industry 193-194; Growth of cities 195; Population
and dimensions of 196-197; The ^ Vasavaya’ 198; Paficayats and Mahajans
199; * The Age of the Vaii^yas ' 200,

CONTENTS

xidii

Chapter VII : The Religious Factor : Religious Institutions 201-256

Religion : (i) Hinduism : Its social origin, influenced by environments 201;
(ii) Buddhism in Gujarat 202-206; (iii) Jainism 206 : Two sects of 207-208;
Effects on non-Jainas 209; (iv) Neo-Hinduism 210-211; 6aradapitha. the
culture— centre in the West, of iSahkaracarya's (785-820 A.D.) teachings
founded at Dvarka known as'Pascima Amnaya'; (v) Vai?osvism 212-213;
Bhakti and Vallabhacarya sect 214; Vitthalesvara 216; Its appeal to Gujarati
community 217-218; Growth of Swaminaraya^a sect 219; Swami Dayananda
212; (vi) Cult of Mother- worship 221; 6akti-worship in Gujarat of the
benevolent form 222; Durga D^vi Mahatmya 223; Folk-drama Bhaval 224;
Gujarati literature on Devi MIhItmya 224; Sakti-worship among Jainas
226; (vii) Religion of the masses— Animism 226; Godlings of Nature 228;
The Village Godlings 229; 6’tala, goddess of Hygiene 230; Sat?-worship
and Memorial stones 231; Dreams 232; Religious suicide 233; Bhutas 234;
Fertility rites 235 236; Evil eye 236. Worship of material objects 237-242;
Worship of animals 243; Worship of trees and plants 244; Forms of Magic
245-246; (viii) Fire-worshippers— Parses : Characteristics of their
personality 246-248; (ix) Islam, the antithesis of Hinduism 249-250; Effect of
Hinduism on Islam— Sufism 251; Effect of Islam on Hinduism 253; Efforts of
Islamic Missionaries, the Pira^ia sect 254-255; (x) Eclecticism 255-256.

Chapter Vm : The Aesthetic Factor : Arts of Pleasure 257-302

(i) Food 257; (ii) Dress 258; Gujarati female dress : Coli-Carania and
Sari 261-263 : Costumes in Miniature— paintings, male and female 264; (iii)
Ornaments 266; Wali and foot-ornaments, badges of slavery 267; Tattooing
268; (iv) Amusements and pastimes 268; Spring festival and ‘ Fa gu 269;
Mahomedan influence on luxuries 270; Fairs 271; (v) Dramatic shows : folk
drama— Bhavai 271-278; Rasadharls 274. (vi) Architecture (a) Ancient
period ; upto 500 A.D. 275; (b) Early Mediaeval period : 500-1000 A. D 276;
(c) Mediaeval period 1000-1300 A. D.-^276; (d) Late Mediaeval period 1300
-1800 A.D. 278; Architecture, under Hindu Kings 279; Indo-Tslamic Archi-
tecture 281; (vii) Sculpture ; Uncommon forms of Vispu and Temples of
dikpdla Vayu and his consort Vayavi, peculiar to Gujarat 28i-287; (viii)
Drawings and idealistic Paintings 289; Wall-pictures on religious occasions
288; Lata painters 289 Secular paintings— ' Vasanta ViMsa* and *Rati
Rahasya’ 289; Vijnaptipatra : roll of pictures 289 ; Rangol^ or sand-pictures
291; Gujarati School of Miniature Paintings 292; Non-Jaina themes of
Miniatures 292; A Gujarati painter of *Dasama Skandha* 294; (ix) Music
and Dance: Group music 295; Indigenous music of Gujaral? : Rasa and
Garabo 296; MargI and Desi music— Tradition of folk-dances Hallisaka and
Lasya 299; Kedara and Malhara Raga sung by Narsirhha Mehta 301; Bhajans
302.

Chapter IX : The Literary Factor : tiaiiguage. Literature and 303-354
Education

(I) Language and literature 303; Rise of the Prakrits 304; Gujarati, a dialect
of Old Western Rajasthani group 305; Later Apabhramsa and O. W. R, 306;
Four components of Gujarati language 310; Foreign element of Videsi
yrords— Greek 311; Persian 312-313; Portuguese 315;

xxiv

CULTURAL HISTORY OF GUJARAT

(II) Literature 315; Main themes of Gujarati literature 318; Religious and
philosophic 318; Erotic strain 319; Main currents ; 'the Desis'in poetic dic-
tion; Balladic Literature and political enviornment-; Purapic renaissance;
Gujarati recensions ; Convention in literature ; Literature and the masses;
Literature of home and hearth ; Philosophic, didactic and satiric strain
337; Poetry of nature ; Poetry of patriotism and chivalry 339; Metrical
romances 341; Span of Gujarati Literature : Period of Apabhramsa literature
(1100-1500 Samvat) 341; The age of Pura^ic revival (1500-1700 Samvat)
342; Glorious period of Medieval Gujarati literature 343 (1700-1820 Samvat)
Period of political unrest (1820-1908 Samvat) 344; The Age of Pioneers of
new Movements (1852-1886 A.D.)-345; The Age of Classic forms (1886-1920
A.D. & onwards) 345.

(III) Education maintains tradition-345; Education :practical 346; Religious
and secular 347; Maktab andMadrasa 347; Village schools 347; Female edu-
cation; Literacy of the masses; Encouragement to Sanskrit-study, under
the Marathas-353;

(IV) Cultural and contactual influences on Gujaratis-What Guiarat stands
for ? Universal peace : Non slaughter and Non-violence preached and
practised by Mahatma Gandhlji 353; Gospel of Pancaslla set forth by
Pandit Nehru 354.

Index of Names, Places, Topics 354-370

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I am very much graceful to the following Institutions and Individuals for
kindly lending their Blocks or Photographs for reproduction

(1) D rector, Baroda Museum and Picture Gallery, Shri B. L. MSnkafl
Baroda, for blocks ; PI. XXII, XXXV Right, XXXVI 1, 2; XXXIX Right
3, 4 ; XLIII; XL VI; XLVII; LVIII Top; LXVII; LXXIV.

(2) Director, Oriental Inst'tute.M.S. University of Baroda, Dr. B. J. Sipde-
sara, for blocks : PI. XXVII; XXVIII; XXXII; XXXIII Top; XXXIV;
XXXV Left; XL; XLI; Kartikeya; XLII Surya; LII Below; LV; LXXV.

(3) Director of Information, Gujarat State, Ahmedabad, Shri M. H. Shah
for blocks : PI. LVII Top; LVill Bo'tom; LIX; LX; LXI; LXXI : Cradle and
Sahga Manci; LXXIII Right; LXXXVI.

(4j Superintendent of the Central Department of Archaeology, Western
Circle, Baroda, for Photographs— PI. XI Below; LXXIX; Blocks : PI. XV
Below; LXXIX and Set of Colour Blocks for Vijnaptipatra.

(5) Director-General of Archaeology, New-Delhi. for Photographs— PI. I.

(6) Superintendent of Records, Records Office. Baroda, Shri G. N. Khare,
for blocks : PI. XVI (i) (ii), XVHI Below.

(7) Managing Editor, ‘Kumar Karyalaya’, Ahmedabad : Sri Bachubhai
Ravat. for blocks : PI. V; VII; VIII; X; XVll Scripts; XVIII Top; XIX XX.
XXI. XXIV, XXV, XXVI Photographs, XXIX, XXX. XXXI, XXXIII, XXXVl
3. XXXVII, XXXVIII, XXXIX Left XLIV Top, XLV, XLVIII, iv Below,
LVI; LVII Bottom; LXIIl; LXIV; LXVIIl; LXIX; LXX: LXXI Top; LXXXV
LXXVIl.

(8) Editor, ‘Navachetan’ (Gujarati monthly), Ahmedabad : Sri Campshibhai
Udesbi for blocks : PI. Ill; XXIII; LXXXIII.

(9) Editor, ‘ Akhapdanahd ’ (Gujarati monthly). Ahmedabad : Shri
Tribhuvandas Thakkar, for blocks ; PI. XXX Below; XLIX.

(10) Editor, ‘Navabharat’ (Gujarati Daily), Baroda : Shri Narendra
Chokshi for blocks : PI. VI a. b; IX.

(11) Shri Dasturji. Parsi Agiari, Navsari and Dr. Ratan Marshall, Secretary,
Parsi Pancayat, Surat, for photographs : PI. LXII (i) Meherji Rana (ii)
Atasa Behram at Navsari.

(12) President, Shuddhadvaita Sahsad, Baroda; Prof. G. H. Bhatt for blocks
PI. LI Left (1) (2).

(13) Artist Sri Bavishankar Raval for sketches of Classical Gujarati poets
PI, LXXXIl, and of Swaminarayapa PI, LI,

(14) Artist Shri Kanu Desai, for PI. LXXVI; LXXXVII; & LXXXVIIl.

(15) Shri Ramasinghji Rathod for blocks from his publication 'Kaccha nu
SanskrliDarpana’ : PI. XII Top left; XLIV Below; LlII; LXIV Bottom;
LXV; LXVI Top; LXXII ;

xxvi

CXJLTUIIAL HISTOBY OF GUJARAT

(16) Managing Editor, Journal of the University of Bombay, Bombay for
blocks : Set of four-colour blocks : Vamanavatara :

(17) Dr. M. R. Majmudar’s collection : PI. XLl Left; XLIl Right; L; Lll Top
left and top right; LXXIV Left Top; LXXVIIl Left.

(18) President, Shri Premanand Sahitya Sabha, Baroda, for blocks
PI. LXXXIV.

(19) Editor, ^ Gujarat Mitra * : (Gujarati weekly), Surat, for blocks : PI. L;
LII Top two;

(20) For the use of the Map of Gujarat and Adjacent areas : Physical
Features : from « THE PERSONALITY OF INDIA** (Revised 2nd edition;
1960) by the late Dr. B. Subbarao, the Registrar, Maharaja Sayajirao
University of Baroda, is thanked.

(21 ) For photographs of J§ri Abhinavasaccidananda Tirtha and the Entrance-
Gate sarada Pitha Dwarka, thanks are due to Mm. i^astri Mahabala Bhatt*
Secretary to Sri i^ahkaracarya. (Plate printed behind colour plate IV)

DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Chapter I : The Geographical Factor : Territory and Climate

PLATE I ; Proto-historic Harappan site of Lothal, 45 miles from Ahmedabad :
Top Left ; Row of excavated houses. On Right and below ; Seals, resembl-
ing the Mohehjo Daro Seals of the Indus Valley. Left Centre : Painted
Pottery (p. 13).

PLATE II : Flora and Fauna . Top Left : Bunyan Tree (p. 244); Top Right : Lion
from Gir (p. 28); Below Left: Peacock; Right : Kankreji breed of cow (p. 26).

PLATE 111 : Flamingos at Nala Sarovara and at Little Rann, Kaccha.

PLATE IV : Top Left : Girnar Mountain. Right : Derrick Towers raised in 1960
fordrillingwellsatLupej and Anklesvar for Natural Oil and Gas (pp. 24-25);
Below : Tala j a Hill, Saura$tra.

PLATE V : Pavagadh Hills with Campaner city at bottom.

Chapter II : The Genetic Factor : Race and Caste

PLATE VI : An Old Ahira. A Bhil Youth.

PLATE VII : Top Left : A Saurastra Kupbi lad. Below : A Saura$tra Shepherd-
ess. Top Right : A Bhil family. Centre : A Saura^tra Rabari, Below : A
Rabari woman.

PLATE VIII ; Grazing Sheep.

Chapter III ; The Economic Factor : Population and Occupation

PLATE IX : Village woman fetching water.

PLATE X: Top Left: A Potter; Right : A Bangle-maker. Below : A Basket-
weaver. Centre : Churning. Right : A Cloth-weaver (p. 47).

PLATE XI : Top : Ship in sculpture at Vimala Vasahi, Mt. Abu. Below : Ship on
Memorial Stones, from Arambhada, near Dwark§, (pp. 73-74).

PLATE XII : Top Left : A Stone depicting a Naval-Fight, from Bhuj Museum.
Right : A Gujarjti ship in sculpture at Borobudur, Java. Below Left : Ship
in a Manuscript— painting of Sripala Rasa. Right : Gujarat Prince entering
Lanka : from a painting in Ajanta frescoes (p. 73).

Chapter IV : The Temporal Factor : Political Heritage : Law and Government

PLATE XIII : Acarya Hemacahdrasuri'with King Kumarapala, sitting at his
feet : from a palm-leaf Ms. of Hemacandra’s " Mahaviracarita ” from Patan
(N. Gujarat), copied in Saihvat 1294 (Enlarged) (p, 102).

PLATE XIV : Portrait Sculptures : Prom Left ; Minister Vastupala and his two
wives, in Vastupala’s Temple at Mt. Abu (p. 105); Portrait sculptures of
Vanaraja at Patan (p. 96); Paramara Dharavar$a at Acalgadh, Mt. Abu;
Mantri Asaka at Patan.

xxviii

CULTURAL HISTORY OF GUJARAT

PLATE XV: Top : Hiravijayasuri's reception by Emperor Akbar in 1568 A.D.
(p. 208). Below ; Emperor Jahangir giving a Firman for non-slaughter : from
a scroll-painting in 1610 A.D., by court-artist i^alivahan (p. 289).

PLATE XVI ; Maratha Sardars of Gaekwad : Left : Raoji Apaji Phanse (d. 1802
A.D.); Right : Vitthalrao Devaji, Kathiawad DivauJi (d. 1830 A.D.) (p. 114).

PLATE XVII : A Coin of Nahapana, a Mahak§atrapa, with an arrow and
thunderbolt on the reverse. Coins of Later K^atrapas (3rd-4th century) with
a three-arched hill, surmounted by a crescent. Gold coin of Cahdragupta II
(c. 375-414 A.D.) : Obv. Horseman type, Rev. Goddess seated on a stool.
Silver coins of Kumaragupta I : Obv. bust. Rev. Winged Peacock Silver coin
of Skahdagupta (455-467 A.D.) ; Obv. bust. Rev. known as ‘Nandi type’
Maitraka coins of Valabhi kings : Obv. 6ri Bhattarka (bust); Rev., trident
(TrisuJa) with a long handle. Indo-Sassanian Coins : later debased Gadhia
form : Deformation of the bust and fire-altar, shown as lines and dots. Gold
coins (from Pandavaha near Jhansi) of Jayasimha Siddharaja (1094-1141
A.D.). Silver coins are also found from Pilvai, North Gujarat.

Prevalent Scripts (1) Brahmi Script, Asokan : 3rd century B.C. (2)
Kharo?t (3) Brahmihri, which is read from right to left: 1st century A.D.
script, Gupta period: 4th century A.D. (4) Early Nagari script: 9th-10th
century A.D.

PLATE XXVIII : Military Architecture : Top : City Fort-gate of Jhinjhuvada,
western side, North-West Gujarat. Below : Main Gale at Vajpur Fort,
Songadh Taluka, S. Gujarat.

PLATE XIX : Memorials (Chatri) built in memory of Royal Persons (p. 231).
Chapter V : The Social Factor : Marriage and Family

PLATE XX : Marriage and Family : A Bride with ornaments : circular ear-
rings, nose-ring, bracelets, rings etc.

PLATE XXI : A Bride-groom in ceremonial dress.

PLATE XXII : Mother & Child : Blessings of Marriage. Right and Left : From
Kotyarka temple, Mahudi.Vijapur taluka, N. Gujarat (7th century); Centre :
A torso from samalaji (7th century).

PLATE XXIII : Woman with a hearty smile, decked in circular earrings with a
chain, and a nose-ring.

Chapter VI : Social and Economic Organisations : Communal Life

PLATE XXIV : Village-site : Herd of cows returning home (p. 170).

PLATE XXV : A ‘ Cabutaro a philanthTophic ornamented stand-post, for
feeding birds with grains, found in every village of Gujarat.

PLATE XXVI : Amusements and Games : Top Left : Ciiicavo. Top Right ;
Blind — man’s buff. Below : ‘Phera-phundadi* — A merry-go-round (p.269).

PLATE XXVII : Place of Temple in village life : Temple at Gop with a Caitya-
window design in Saura?tra, Halar Dist. (After conservation in 1959)
(5th cen.) (pp. 183,278).

PLATE XXVIII : Gurjara-Pratihara style Temple at Roda, Idar State with an
Amalaka on the 6ikhara (9th century) (p. 183).

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

xxix

PLATE XXIX : Water-supply ; Reservoirs : Nakhi Talav on Mt. Abu
(pp. 197.278).

PLATE XXX : Dudhia Talav, on Mt. Pavagadh, Eastern Gujarat. Sahasralinga
Sarovara, Culverts at Patan, N. Gujarat (11th century).

PLATE XXXI : A step*well, with the top storeys in view. A sculptured balcony
from Adalaj Vava, (step-well) few miles from Ahmedabad, built in Samvat
1495,

Chapter VII : The Religious Factor : Religious Institutions

PLATE XXXII : Buddhism (p. 204). Sculptured Cave-Entrance at Kharh-
bhalida, Buddhist Cave, Central Saurastra (p. 275).

PLATE XXXIII : Left and top : Terracotta Buddhas (Now in Archaeological
Museum, M. S. University of Baroda) (p. 205). A round stone-box with a lid,
containing relics, unearthed in 1963, from the Buddhist Stupa at Devani
Mori, Samalaji, north-east Gujarat; with a Brahm! inscription, bearing ^aka
year 127 (205 A. D.) (M. S. University Archaeological Museum).

PLATE XXXIV : Terracotta seated Buddhas, from the Buddhist Stupa at
Devani Mori, near Samalaji, E. Gujarat (4th century) (M. S. University
Museum, Baroda).

PLATE XXXV : Bronze sculpture in round.

Left : Inscribed Buddha Memorial-Bronze, from Bhuj Museum (7th century)
Right : Camaradhariiji from Ako{a hoard, found near Baroda (6lh century).

PLATE XXXVI : From top : (1) Four Sections of Jaina Society : The
Caturvidha Sarhgha : Sadhu, SadhvT, iSravaka and 6ravika, from a palm-leaf
Ms. (p. 207). (2) Caturvidha Sarhgha : painted on a wooden panel. (3) Jaina
Sadhus going on way (p. 206).

PLATE XXXVII ; Ajitanatha Temple built by Kumarapaia (1143-1172 A. D.),
on Tarahga Hill, N. Gujarat. Jaina Temples on Mt. Girnar (p. 276), 12th &
13th centuries.

PLATE XXXVIll : Jaina Temples on Mt. satruhjaya (p. 278).

PLATE XXXIX : Neo-Hinduism : Images of the Hindu Pantheon : Vai^navism ;
From left (1) Garuda, the conveyance of Vi^nu, in human form: from
Dohad (Pahcamahals) (10th century), (2) Govardhana-dharana, and ^akata-
bhahga, from Mandor, near Jodhpur (6th century), saivism : (3) Ekamukha
Lihga, from Khedbrahma, Idar State (6th cen.) (Baroda Museum). Below :
Worship of Tginity : Trimurti head from Limbodra, Rajpipla State, (8th
century) (Baroda Museum).

PLATE XL : Left : Vamana assuming Virata-form when King Bali is offering
water for the gift : from Osia (8th century). Right : A composite image of
Hari-Hara from Osia, Southern Rajasthan (8th century).

PLATE XLI : Special variety of Vispn images in Western India : Ten-armed
Vi^nu on man-Garuda, from N. Gujarat (11th century). Kum.'jra Kartikeya,
son of i^iva, and Commander of the gods, from Samalaji (7lh century).

PLATE XLIl : Left : Surya (Sun-God) seated on a seven-horse vehicle
symbolising the seven colours of the Sun-rays, from Uhza, N. Gujarat (9th
century). Right : Pleasing image of Candra (Moon), from near the Surya
temple, Modhera, N. Gujarat (Early 10th century).

XXX

CULTURAL HISTORY OF GUJARAT

PLATE XLIII : Virabhadra diva, with a halo : from damaliji, in greenish stone
(6th century).

PLATE XLIV: Surya Temple at Modhera, N. Gujarat: Sabha-Mapdapa (10th
century) (p. 280-281). Jaina Vasahi Temple at BhadreSvara, Kaccha.

PLATE XLV: Remains of Rudra Mahalaya, Siddhapur, N. Gujarat (11th
century) (p. 277).

PLATE XL VI : Ceiling, Delvada Temple, Mt. Abu (11th century).

PLATE XL VII : Ceiling, Marble Temple at Kumbharia, Mt. Abu (11th century)

PLATE XLVIII : The episode of Kaliya-damana, subduing of Kaliya Naga, by
Bala in the ceiling. Ceilings from Temples at Kaccha.

PLATE XLIX : Rapachhodji-Vi^pu Temple at Dwarka, known as Jagat Mandir
(p.213).

PLATE L : and Rama Episodes; on outer panels of the damalaji temple,

Sabarkaptha Dist : (1) Kaliyanaga>damana by Krspa, after a jump from the
Kadamba tree. (2) Kidnapping of SIta by Ravana, and Vadha of Marica in
antelope-form by Rama. (3) Kr$pa with the milk-maid, and Putana-vadha
by child-Kr$pa. (4) Piercing seven Tala trees at a time, by an arrow from
Rama.

PLATE LI: Preachers of Vai?pavism : dri Vallabhacarya (Saihvat 1529-1587,
1473-1531 A.D.) (p. 213). Viithalesvara Goswami (Sarhvat 1572-1642, 1516-
1586 A.D.) (p. 214). Swaminarayapa Sabajanahda (Saihvat 1837-1886,1781-
1830 A.D.) (p. 221). Swami Dayanahda Sarasvati, Founder of Arya Samaj
Born atTahkarainMorbi State, Saura§tra (Sarhvat 188L1939; 1825-1883 A.D.)

(p.212).

PLATE LIl : Religion of the Masses : Top Left ; ditala Devi, with a winnow on
head, from Modhera temple (12th century). (Dhyana-description of the
goddess— on p. 230 footnote). Top Right : ditala with a donkey, and a trisula
in hand and a pot of water on head. Below : ditala Devi, the Goddess of rural
and urban hygiene, mounted on a donkey, from a temple at Osia, S. Rajas-
than (9th century).

PLATE LIII : Religion of the Masses : A series of Paliyas : Memorial Stones : of
Heroes, Satis, Saints etc, depicted with various symbols. Worshipped by
their kith and kin. Stray Memorial Stones (pp. 231, 241).

PLATE LIV : Religion of the Masses ; A Mother presenting toy-horses to the
Goddess, for the recovery of her child. Daily round of aGtfjarati house-wife:
Sprinkling on the Tulasl-plant. Muslim ladies bringing ojfferings to the holy
Pir, enshrined in graves. Worshipping Naga on Naga-pahcami day (p. 244).

PLATE LV : Nagaraja, at Vasisthasrama, Mt. Abu (9th century). de$aSayi
Vi§pu from Chab talav at Dohad, Pancamahals (10th century) (Now in
Prince of Wales Museum, Bombay).

PLATE LVI : Muslim Architecture : Ceiling of a Kalpav|:k§a (Divine Tree) :
design from daikh Pharid’s Tomb at Patan (N. Gujarat) (14th century).

PLATE LVII : Muslim Architecture : Masjid at Canipaner, at the foot of Mt,
PAvagadh (15th century) (p. 279). Tomb at Sarkhej, near Ahmedabad, seen
with its reflection in water (15th century).

UST or ILUJSTIUTXOtlS

xxxi

PLATE LVIll ; Hajira of Kutubuddin« near Pratapnagar^ Baroda : of the time
of Akbar (1553->1605 A. D.)- Makabara at Junagadh (Saura$trd)-

PLATE LIX : Shaking Minarets at Ahmedabad (15th century).

PLATE LX : World-famous Traceried Stone-Screen in a wall of the Sidi
Saiyad^s Tomb, Ahmedabad (15th century).

PLATE LXl : Variegated Design-panels in a Stone-Screen, from Sidi Saiyad’s
Masjid at Ahmedabad.

PLATE LXII : Fire-worshippers (p. 246) : Left : Meherji R§p&, the first
Dasturji (priest) of the Fire Temple at Navsari ; who was invited by
Emperor Akbar. At his instance, a permanent lamp was kept burning
night and day, by the emperor. Top Right : Atasa Behram at Navsari, founded
by the Zoroastrian Ahjuman, Navsari in 1795 A. D. : Present building built
in 1925. An early Parsi family in contemporary dress.

Chapter VIII : Aesthetic Factor : Arts of Pleasure

PLATE LXIIl : A Bahjhari woman, illustrating special Dress and Ornaments
worn on auspicious occasions (pp. 260-61, 266).

PLATE LXIV : Variegated Embroidery 'Ahiri bharat ’ : Torapa (hangings for
the door-frame) (p. 77.) Skirt-border (Kora) on the Sari ; Peacock and
Parrot design— Bhuj work, Kaccha (17th century).

PLATE LXV : ACakala (Hanging Curtain for walls) with Embroidery, Bhuj
work— Kaccha.

PLATE LXVI : From a Wall-painting at Bhuj Palace, Kaccha. Maharaja
Vakhatsimhaji— From a Wall-painting at Sihor Palace, Old capital of
Bhavnagar State (16th century).

PLATE LXVIl : A Painting on Cloth of two Gopis (Picchavai), used as a
background against the idols in worship. Tree shown in silhouette; Gopis
wearing pompons.

PLATE LXVIll : Rahgoll Designs for auspicious occasions ; To be done with
white, red or yellow powder (p. 291).

PLATE LXIX ; Paper-Stencils for Sand-pictures in Vai^pava temples ; Top :
Vastra-harai>a-lUa— the episode of Kr^^a’s taking over the clothes of
bathing Gopis. Below : An ornamented Cow with a suckling calf.

PLATE LXX: Gujarat Wood-Sculpture : A Balcony of a Gujarati house, with
minutely ornamented brackets.

PLATE LXXI: Gujarat Wood-Sculpture : Front of a Gujarati house with
carved doors, .^uspicious figures of Gapesa and Goddesses in view (p. 286).
A Cradle, with two birds perched on the central beam. Sahkheda Lacquer-
work (Central Gujarat). A Sahga-mahei : An ornamented seat with a back
and handles. Sahkheda Lacquer-work (Central Gujarat).

PLATE LXXII : Ivory-carving : Curtains from Bhuj Ayana Mahal Palace of the
Rao of Kaccha, with an inscription of Samvat 1764 (1708 A.D.).

PLATE LXXIII: Gujarat Metal work ; Top Left : Bronze Head of the First
Tirthahkara Adinatha, f rom Akota hoard, near Baroda (5th century) (p. 286).
Top Right and Below : Gujarat Dlpalak^ml (16th century).

PLATE LXXI V : Top Left : A life-size Buddha Bronze with inscription on the
back, from Kotyarka, Vijapur Taluka, N. Gujarat (8th century). Top Right :
ParSvanatha from Lilvadeva, a village in the Pancamahals (10th century).

xxxii

CULTURAL HISTORY OF GUJARAT

Below Right : A Dipalak§mi. Below Left : Metal- ware : for fetching sacred
water from holy places. Scenes inscribed from Krsna-LIla on a brass-lota:
(a) Dadhi-mathana, (b) Kali—nathana.

PLATE LXXV ; Da^da-Rasaka : A group of youths and ladies with sticks (dapda)
in hands: Fresco in Bagh Caves, on the old route from Majva to Gujarat
(p. 296).

PLATE LXXVl: Gujarati ladies engaged in keeping tala (tali) in a Garabo
A many-holed ghata (earthen pot), with a burning lamp inside— a *Garabo’
(p. 296). Jaga-nrtya : In honour of Goddess Ambika.

PLATE LXXVII: A party of Dancers and Musicians : Panels from Delvad§
Temple, Mt. Abu (p,296).

PLATE LXXVIll : An actor of Bhavai, assuming the role of Ardha-narisvara :
Left half Isvara and right half Parvati (p. 221).

All itinerant Minstrel with an Eka-taro (one-string instrument) to accom-
pany recital of bhajans (devotional songs) (p. 298).

PLATE LXXIX : Jaina Miniatures : on Wooden Panels (Pa tali) : From the life
of Parsvanatha, done in Samvat 1425 (1369 A.D.). Jaina Jhana Mandira,
Baroda.

PLATE LXXX : Call of the Flute to the cows in the court-yard. Four-armed
Kr?na being offered Bhoga (eatables) by Gopis— Paper Miniatures from
‘Balagopala Stuti* by Bilvamahgala Swami : a Sanskrit composition of
stray verses re: Kr§pa's childhood, in the Western Indian Miniature style
(Eijrly 15ih cen.) (p. 292). Kr§na lifting the Govardhana, and protecting
Gokula against heavy rains.

PLATE LXXXI : Left : Sage Markapdeya narrating exploits of Goddess Durga
(Early 15th century). Above : Camunda holding heads of demons Canda
and Manda in the two lower hands (Early 15th century). — Devi Mahatmya
Miniatures on Paper : In the selfsame style of Jaina themes (Early 15th
century) : Camui^da Killing demon Mahisa.

Chapter IX : The Literary Factor : Language, Literature and Education

PLATE LXXXII ; Classical Gujarati Poets: Hemacandra Suri (Samvat 1145-
1229). Narasirhha Mehta (Samvat 1470-1525). Mirabai (Samvat 1558-1625),
liiravijaya Sari (Samvat 1583-1652). Akho Bhagat (Samvat 1640-1708).
Premnnahda (Samvat 1700-1775). Samalbhatla (Samvat 1740-1820),
Dayarama (Samvat 1833-1908). (p. 316).

PLATE LXXXIII : Child Kr§na moving on the knees, holding butter in hand,
admiringly observed by mother Yasoda. Child Krsna interrupting mother
Yasoda engaged in churning curds. Child Kniaa being humoured by Yasoda
by rocking him on her legs— Illustrations from Bhalana’s Gujarati verse-
version of Dasama Skandha”, executed in the folk-style, and not using any
fixed picture-frame : Ms?« is written in the popular Gujarati script under
a continuous head-line (Late 17th century).

PLATE LXXXIV : Family-tree of sri Kr§ua . whose grandson Aniruddha
marries U§a; illustrated by a mango-tree, spread out in twelve branches
representing the twelve skahdhas of the Bhagavata. Maiden U§a, being
anointed with perfumed oil by her nearest and dearest, prior to her sacred
bath before marriage-^Illustrations from Premananda's Akhyana of “Usa-

UST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

xxxiii

hara^a *’ done in the derivative Rajaput style, atNandurbar, West Khandei§a,
the text being copied in traditional Devanagari script.

PLATE LXXXV A Brahmin lad reading a Manuscript under an old oiMamp-
stand; Points to the Literacy in the higher classes.

PLATE LXXXVI : A devout Muslim religiously reading the Kuran, shows
literacy among a section of the community.

PLATE LXXXVIl : *Vai§pava-j ana ’ by Sri Kanu Desai. Mahatma Gandhi prea-
ching Vai$nstvism in actual practice : Voiced through the unforgettable
poem ' Vais^ava-jana * of the Saint-poet Narasimha Mehta.

PLATE LXXXVIII : ‘ Saint of Asia * by Sri Kanu Desai. Mahatma Gandhi, the
apostle of Truth and Non-violence, reflects the ‘Light of Asia* personified
in Buddha, shown in the background (p. 354).

PLATE LXXXIX : Plate, behind Colour-Plate IV ; (i) Shrimad Abhinavasac-
cidananda Tirtha : the Present Presiding Head of ^arardapitha, founded by
Sri ^ahkaracarya (785-820 A.D.) at Dwarka: (ii) The Entrance— gate to the
6arada Pitha in a wing of Rapacchodaji Temple, Dwarka (p. 210-211).

COLOUR— PLATES

PLATE I : Mahgala-Kalasa : The auspicious Water-pot with petals of lotuses
held by a typical Gujarati lady in holy reverence.

PLATE II ; Vclmandvatdra : one of the ten avataras, from Gita-Govinda — the
earliest illustration of Jayadeva (c. 1150 A. D.)'s Vai^^ava lyric, in the
Western Indian Miniature Style ; From the Mss. collection of §ri Bala-
satikara Bhattji of Kalika Mata temple on Pavagadh (p. 292).

PLATE III ; Bhdgavata Dasama Sfcandha— the last folio painted in the traditional
Western Indian Miniature style, three-fourths profile, giving place to strict
profile.— From the collection of Goswami 6ri Vrajabhu§a^alalji, of Kankroli
(Rajasthan).

plate IV : Portio7is from a VijnapUpatra : A painted letter-scroll, addressed to
Acarya Vijayasena Suri by the Samgha of Agra, requesting him to pass the
on-coming caturmasa (monsoOn) in their town. This Suri had succeeded in
getting an Imperial firman of Akbar, prohibiting animal-slaughter during
the Paryusa^a week. This firman was renewed by Jahangir, in 1610 A. D.
(1667 Samvat), this time the deputation being led by Vivekahar§a and
Udayahar^?a, disciples of Vijayasena Suri — Letter is painted by ^alivahan,
the court-painter, who, besides giving a likeness of Jahangir, gives the
finest illustrations of the common life of the people.

CULTURAL HISTORY
OF GUJARAT

rwnMwi

Proto-hi.storic Uarappan Site of Lothal, 45 miles from Ahmedabad :

7 \)p left : I^ow of excavated houses. On right and below: §eals, resembling the Mohenjo
Daro Seals of the Indus \'allcy. Left centre: Painted Pottery, (p. 13)

Top Left: Bunyan Tree (p. 244); Top Right: Lion from Gir (p. 28).
Below Left: Peacock; Right: Kankreji breed of cow (p. 26}

PLATE III

Top Left : Girnar Mountain. Right : Derrick Towers raised in i960 for drilling wells at Luncj and
Anklcivar for Natural Oil and Gas (pp 24-25); Below: Talaja Hill, Saurastra.

Pavagadh Hills with Campaner city at bottom.

T Ku^jbi lad. Below; A Saurastra Shepherdess.

Top Right: A Bhil family. Centre: A Saurastra Rabari. Below: A Rabari woman

PLATE Vin

Grazing Sheep

PLATE IX

Village woman fetching water

PLATE X

Top Left: A Potter. Right: A Bangle-maker. Below: A Basket

PLATE XII

PLATE Xlir

Acarya Hemacandrasuri with King Kumarapala, sitting at his feet: from a palm-leaf Ms. of Hemacandra’s
^ahaviracanta ' from Patan (X. Gujarat), copied in Samvat 1294. (Enlarged) (p. 102)

PLATE XIV

Portrait Sculptures; From left: Minister Vastupala and his two wives in Vastupala’s Temple at Mt. Abu (p. 105): Portrait sculptures of
Vanaraja at Patan (p. 96); Paramara Dbaravarsa at Acalgaclb, Mt. Abu; Mantri Anaka at Patau.

PLATE XV

Top : Heeravijayasuri’s reception by Emperor Akbar in 1568 A. D. (p 008)
Below: Emperor Jahangir giving a Firman for non-slaughter : 'from a scroll-painting
in 1610 A. D., by court-artist Salivahan,

PLATE XVI

Maratha Sardars of Gaekwad : Left : Raoji Apaji Fanse (d. 1S02 A. D.). Right : ViUhalrao Devaji, Kathiavvad Divanji (d. 1830 A.D.) (p. 114)

PLATE XVII

Gujarat Coins through the Ages (p. 122)

A Coin of Nahapuna, a Mahaksatrapa, with
an arrow and thunderbolt on the reverse.

Coins of Later Ksatrnpas (3rd-4th century) with
a three- arched hill, surmounted by a crescent.

Gold coin of Candragupta II (c.375-414 A.I).):Obv.
Horseman type; J^ev. Goddess seated on a stool.

Silver coins of Kumfiragupta i :
Obv. bust; Rev. Winged Pea-cock.

Silver coin of Skandagupta (455-4^^7 A. D.)
Obv. bust; & Rev. known as ‘Nandi type*.

Indo-Sassanian Coins : later debased Gadhia
form: Deformation of the bust and fire-altar,
shown as lines and dots.

Gold coins (from Pajjclavfihri near Jhansi) of
Jayasiriiha Siddharaja (1094-11^3 A.D.) Silver
coins are also found from Pilvai, North Gujarat,

Prevalent Scripts

Maitraka coins of Valabhi kings : Obv. Sri Bhattarka
(bust); Rev., trident (Trisula) with a long handle.

PLATE XVIII

Military Architecture

Top: City Fort gate of Jhinjhuvada, western side, North-West Gujarat
Below : Main Gate at Vajpur Fort, Songadh Taluka, S. Gujarat

PLATE XX

Marriage and Family:

A Bride with ornaments : circular ear-rings, nose-ring, bracelets, rings etc.

PLATE XXI

A Bride-groom in ceremonial dress

PLATE XXII

Right and Left: From Kotyarka temple,
Mahudi, Vijapur Taluka, N. Gujarat (7th century);
Centre: A torso from Samalaji {7th century)

PLATE XXIII

Woman with a hearty smile decked in circular earrings with a chain, and a nose-ring.

IIPLATE XXIV

Village-site: Herd of cows returning home fp. 170)

PLATE XXV

A Xabutaro*, a philanthrophic ornamented stand-post,
for feeding birds with grains, found in every village of Gujarat.

PLATE XXVI

incavo. Top right: Blind man’s buff. Below: Fera-fuhdadi — A merry go-round (p. 269)

Place of Temple in village life :

Tcini)lc at Gup with a Caitya-window design in Saurastra, Hfilar Dist,
(After conservation in 1959) (5th centiury) (p. 183, 278)

PLATE XXVIII

Gurjara.~Pratihara style Temple at Roda, Idar State with an Amalaka on the Sikhara*

(cjth century) (p. 183)

^^’ate^-supply : Reservoirs :

Nakhi Talav on Mt. Abu (p. 197, 278}

PLATE XXXI

A step-well, with the top storeys in view.

A sculptured balcony from Adalaj Vava, (step*well) few miles from Ahmedabad,

built in samvat 1495.

PLATE XXXII

Buddhism; (p. 204)

Sculptured Cave-Entrance at Khaiiibhalida, Buddhist Cave, Central SaurjLjtra (p. 275)

PLATE XXXIII

PLATE XXXV

Bionze Sculpture in round.

Left: Inscribed Buddha Memorial - Bronze, from Bhuj Museum (7th century).
Right ; Camaradharini from Akota hoard, found near l^aroda (6th century).

1 -.PLATE XXXVI

rrom Top: (i) Four Sections of Jaina Society: The Catufvidha Saihgha: Sadhu, Sadhvi,
i^ravaka and Sravika, from a palm-leaf Ms. (p. 207)

(2) Caturvidha Sariigha : painted on a wooden panel

(3) Jaina Sadhus going on way (p. 206)

PLATE XXXVII

Ajitanatha Temple built by Kumarapala (1143-1172 A. D.), on Taraiiga Hill, N. Gujarat

Jaina Temples on Mt. Girniir (p, 276), 12th & 13th centuries.

PLATE XXXVIII

Jaina Temples on Mt. Satruiijaya (p. 278)

Neo-Hinduism :

Images of the Hindu Pantheon :
Vaisnavism: From left (i) Ga-
luda, the conveyance of
in human form: from Dohad
(Pancamahals) (loth century).
(2) Govardhana - dharana, and
J^akata-bhaiiga, from Maiulor,
near Jodhpur (6th century).

Saivism : (3) Ekamukha Lihga,
from Khedbrahma, Iclar State
(6th century), (Fiaroda Museum.)

Below : Worship of Trinity :
Trimurti head from Limbodra,
Rajpiplii State, (8th century),
(Baroda Museum.)

PLATE XL

Left: Vamana assuming Virata-form when King Bali is offering water for the gift: from Osia (8th century}
Right : A composite image of Hari-Hara from Osia, Southern Rajasthan : (8th century)

PLATE XL!

PLATE XLII

Ceiling, Delva<,la Temple^ Mt. Abu (nth century)

PLATE XLVII

Ceiling, Marble Temple at Kuiiibharia, Mt. Abu (itth century)

PLATE XLVin

Ra^Jachhof]ji-V^sIJu Temple at Dwarka, known as Jagat Mandir (p. 313)

PLATE L

Krsiia and Rama Episodes:
on outer panels of the Samalaji temple, Sabarkfintha.

(i) Kallyanaga-damana by Krsna, after a jump from the Kadamba tree.

(2) Kidnapping of SUa by Ravana, and Vadha of Marica in antelope- form by Kfuru

(3) Krsna with the milk-maid, and Putana-vadha by dyld-Krsna.

(4) Piercing seven Tala trees at a time, by an arrow from Rama.

PLATE LI

Sri Vallabhacurya

(Saiiivat 1529-1587, 1473-1531 A. D.) (p. 2ij)

Vitthalesvara Goswami Bom at Taiikara in Morbi State, Saurastra

(Samvat 1572-1642, 1516- 15S6 A. D.) (p. 214) (Sariivat 1881-1939: 1825-18S3 A. D.j

PLATE -LII

Top Left : Sitala Devi, with a winnow
on head, from Modhera temple (i2th
century). (Dhyana-description of the
goddess-on p. 230 footnote).

Top Right : Si tala with a donkey,
and a tri'iula in hand and a pot of
water on head.

Below : Sitala Devi, the Goddess of
rural and urban hygiene, mounted
on a dpnkey, from a temple at Osia,
S. Rajasthan (9th century).

Stray Memorial Stones (p. 231, 241)

'LATE LIV

Religion of the Masses

A Mother presenting toy-horses to the Daily round of a Gujarati house-wife:

Goddess, for the recovery of her child.* Sprinkling on the Tulasi-plant.

PLATE LV

Se§ai4ayi Visnu from Cluib talav at Dohad^ Pancamahals (loth century)
(Now in Prince of Wales Museum, Bombay)

PLATS.tVI

Muslim Architecture:

Ceiling of a Kalpavrksa (Divine Tree) design :
from §aikh Farid’s Tomb at Patan (N. Gujarat) (r4th century)

PLATE LVII

ME LVIII

PLATE LIX

World-famous Traceried Stone-Screen in a wall of the Sidi Saiyad's Tomb, Ahmedabad. (r5th

PLATE LXII

PLATE LXIII

A Banjliati woman, illustrating special Dress & Ornaments worn on auspicious occasions.

( pp. 36o-6i : iOG)

Variegated Kinbroidery ‘Ahiri bharat': Toraiia (hangings for the door-frame) (p. 77)

PLATE LXV

PLATE LXVI

Maharaja Vakhatsihihaji

From a W'all-painting at Sihor Palace-Old capital of Bhavnagar State (i6th century)

A Paintinj^ on ( loth of two Gopis (Picchavfii), used as a background against the idols in worship,
Irec shown in silhouette; Gopis wearing pompons.

PLATE LXVni

Raiigoli Dcbigns for auspicious occasions: To be
done with white, red or yellow powder, (p. 291)

PLATE LXTX

Paper-Stencils for Sand-pictures in Vaisnava temples:

Top: Vastra harana lila-tho episode of Kri^na's takin^i( over the clothes of bathing Gopis.
JJelovv: An ornamented Cow with a suckling calf.

PLATE LXX

Gujarat Wood-Sculpture:

A Balcony of a Gujarati house, with minutely ornamented brackets.

PLATE LXXr

PLATE LXXII

Ivory-carvin,Lr ;

Curtains from IMiuj Ayanfi Malial Palace of the Kao of Kaccha,
with an inscription of Saiiivat i7()^ (1708 A. I>.)

K' '/:■

' V ij 'i^''^' _

■ v^ ..^4 -^iW

K^I:'Sftl:1

Ll .'\;' ■ *>'0

t>;' ■ ,

^ ^ ^ ^ •WfwW _

i k I ■*

l'«j«.v.

^XXXX '

■* *yy 2 .o ^ «4 J f

A life-size Huciclha Bronze
with inscription on the
back, from Kotyarka,
Vijapur Taluka, N. (iujarat.
(8th century)

Top Right:

ParsvanathafromLilvadeVa,
a village in the Paiica-
mahals (loth century)

Below Right:

A Dipalaksmi.

Below Left :

Metal- ware: for fetching
sacred water from holy
places. Scenes inscribed
from Krisna-Lila on a brass-
lota: (a) Dadhi-mathana, &
(b) Kalinathana.

ff— ■

l^

■f ■■

' , 'll

— r-

KiJ

%

f ) ■

■T/lr ' iV -wl

f' V

IT

ivf mv;- »,-f..:

fl:*'

4 ^1

4 1. 1

I » \

IS1$1^1S.1

//^i3

(n?.

f*

"5

N <

I V>tV>

^^^^XXjXZrrry rrr^rr-rr r t - ^

\' \

I''

-’V'

A life-size Buddha P>ronze
with inscription on the
back, from Kotyarka,
Vijapur Tfiluka, N. Gujarat.
(8th century)

Top Right :

ParsvanathafromLilvadeVa,
a village in the Pahea-
mahais (loth century)

Below Right:

A Dipalaksmi.

Below Left :

Metal- ware: for fetching
sacred water from holy
places. Scenes inscribed
from Krisna-Lila on a brass-
lota: (a) Dadhi-mathana, &
(b) Krdinathana.

I if w

H*

% \

;.’X

PLATE LXXVI

PLATE LXXVII

A party of Dancers and Musicians: Panels from Dclvada Temple, Mt. Abu. (p. 296)

PLATE LXXVin

An actor of Bhaval, assuming the role of An itinerant Minstrel with an Eka taro

Ardha-narisvara: Left half Isvara and (one-string instrument) to accompany recital

right half Parvati. (p. 221) bhajans (devotional songs) (p. 298)

PLATE LXXIX

Bhagavata Da<ama Skandha-the last folio :

In the transitional Western Indian Miniature style, three-fourths profile, giving place to strict profile.
From the Collection of Goswami Sri Vrajabhu>analalji, of Kahkroli (Rajasthan).

PLATE LXXXIV

Family-tree of Sri Krisna, whose grand-son
Aniruddha marries Usa; illustrated by a man-
go-tree, spread out in twelve branches, repre-
senting the twelve skandhas of the Bhagavata.

Maiden Usa being’ anointed with perfumed
oil by her nearest and dearest, prior to her
sacred bath before marriage.

PLATE LXXXV

/

A Brahmin lad reading a Manuscript undi r an old oil lamp stand ;
Points to the literacy in the highiT classes.

PLATE LXXXVI

A devout Muslim religiously reading the Kurfm:
Shows literacy among a section of the community.

PLATE LX XXVII

PLATE LXXXVIIl

Saint of .Wia,' by Shri Kami Desai

Mahatma (jaiidhi, the apostle of Truth and Non-violence, reflects the Light of Asia
l>crsor.ified in Buddha, shown in the background.

(P- 354)

Portions from a Vijnaptipatra :

A painted letter-scroll, addressed to Acarya Vijayasena Sfiri by the Saiiigha of Agra, requesting
him to pass the on-coming caturmasa (monsoon) in their town. This Siiri had succeeded in getting an
Imperial firman of Akbar, prohibiting animal-slaughter during the Paryusana week. This firman was
renewed by Jahangir in ibio A. I). (1667 Samvat), this time the deputation being led by Vivekaharsa
and Udayaharsa, disciples of Vijayasena Suri.

Letter is painted by Siilivahan, the court-painter, who, besides giving a likeness of Jahangir,
gives the finest illustrations of the common life of the people.

INTRODUCTION : THE SCHEME OF STUDY

I

T ie nature of life, literature and art of a country depends upon
(1) its geographical peculiarities, (2) the economic factors which
create and develop common interests, and (3) the cultural influences
which glisten through the fabric of the political and religious institutions
giving them a living unity. These determinants impose a national character
upon its people and upon all that they do and express.

The study of the Society of Gujarat means an incursion into the wide
field of the history of Gujarat or rather the history of Gujarati Society,
speaking a common language, its manners and customs, culture and learning,
philosophy and religion. However diverse the characteristics which make
up the sum-total of social life in Gujarat, these, like the qualities which
combine in an individual, will be seen to be not merely juxtaposed, but an
inter-related, inter-dependent and integrated whole.

The purpose is to present the social, religious and political life of the
people of Gujarat in a non-political setting, such as may establish the place
of the Gujaratis, racially, culturally and historically, in what may be broadly
named Indian life and civilization.

The life of Gujarat records the interplay of two factors : (a) the indi-
viduality of the Gujaratis expressed through a consciously directed group-
life ; and (b) the influence of the culture which, originating with the Early
Aryans, has maintained the homogeneity of Indian life and the continuity
of its traditions for the last three thousand years. To the first, Gujarat owes
its outlook on life, its social institutions, its language and literature, and the
urge to remain a single social organism. The second has created forces
which stimulate an^ unify its collective impulses impelling it to find a greater
self-fulfilment in the corporate life of India.

The Gujarati Society is a large group of persons sharing a common life
for some period of time — either long or short— which creates a ‘ Social
Environment ’. It is constituted of smaller societies, which serve as links
between itself and the individual, and stand out very distinctly from the
society to which they owe allegiance and from each other, as in the case of
the Muslim or ParsI ‘ Social Groups ’ in Gujarat ; but sometimes the
barriers which fence them in, change and lose the sharpness of their outlines.

2

CULTURAL HISTORY OF GUJARAT

The Vaisnavas of Gujarat, for instance, more often than not, include the
Vallahhdcdris, Rddhdvallahhis, Swdmindrdyanas and others; and the
Jainas of Gujarat include, the Svetdmharas, the Digarhbaras, the
Sthdnakavdsis and the like.

Sometimes, again, these groups are made up of trading classes,
irrespective of caste or creed; including Kacchis, Bhdfids, Luhdnds and
Memons, Bohrds of Gujarat and Banids of Gujarat and Saura^tra. City-
groups, known as Siirtis, Bharucis, Ahmeddhddis, Pattanis, Kharhhhdtts,
Bhdvnagarls, etc., are all groups of a vague regional character welded together
by a common life-pursuit. More sharply defined, however, were the political
groups — the Ldtas, the Sorathis, the Pattanis, etc., — which existed at the time
when there were different principalities in Broach, Saurastra and Anahil-
pattan. All these groups had a common aim which dominated the lives of all
who lived in Gujarat, coloured their arts and crafts, their literature, their
thoughts and feelings, and welded many diverse elements into one well-knit
whole, which we can designate ‘ the people of Gujarat ^

Proximity is by no means a necessary condition of the unity of a
people — as witness the ubiquitous Gujarati trader — who carries his group-
characteristics about with him all over the world, and sets up a small Gujarat
wherever he may happen to set his foot*. Nor does common political control
ensure folk-unity. Khandesh, part of Malwa, and portions of Saurastra
were for centuries under Gujarati kings and sovereigns, till Akbar finally
resettled the present limits of Gujarat in 1578 A. D. The Mdlavls then, were
brought under the domination with the Khdndeshis and the Sorathis; but
never did they become one with them.

II

We now turn to indicate the method of approach and some of the pre-
suppositions on which the argument will be based. If we accept the defini-
tion of * Nation * given by E, Barker, we shall find that it applies in the main
to Gujarati Society. He says; “‘Nation Ms a body of men inhabiting a
definite territory, who possess a common stock of thoughts and feelings :
include in that common stock a common religious belief, who generally use a
common language, also cherish a common will, and accordingly form a sepa-
rate State for the expression and realization of that wiir*“.

1. Cf. Poet Khabardar’s apt message to the 8th Gujarati Literary Conference
(1926) held in Bombay, sent from Madras, his new home :

“ ^ ^ gsKFET. ”

2. E. Barker ; National Character, p. 17.

INTRODUCTION : THX SCHEME OF STUDY

3

What is the * National Character’? It is the sum-total of tendencies
acquired by a group of people who have lived together imder the same con-
ditions for a very long period of time ; have been moulded by the same
circumstances ; have had to deal with the same, or similar problems ; have
had the same sort of joys and sorrows, had been fired by the same ideals and
aspirations — in short, who, having evolved shoulder to shoulder, so to speak,
had the same sort of mental, emotional and spiritual ‘ make-up It is, then,
this simultaneous evolution that we must study in all its details, if we would
arrive at a comprehensive intimate knowledge of the Gujarati people and
their peculiar character.

A people have a spiritual superstructure on a material basis. The
material basis consists of three elements, of which the first is "Geographical
Environment", or the geographical characteristics of that particular portion
of the globe which a race inhabits and which exercise a very deep and subtle
influence on every aspect of its evolution. This we shall call the ‘ Geographi-
cal Factor ’ : (Chapter J).

The second element is the “People” itself, the occupants of the terri-
tory in question, making up the ‘Genetic Factor’ of Race and Caste :
(Chapter II).

The third element is “Population”, i. e., the number of souls constituting
the people, and the manner of their distribution over the whole of the terri-
tory. This determines their occupation and economic conditions, and,
obviously, has a profound effect on every department of their common life
and growth. Here, then, we have the third or the ‘ Economic Factor ’ of
Population and Occupation ; and its importance for the people is incalcu-
lable: (Chapter III).

The spiritual superstructure of a nation consists of its thoughts
and ideals, its deepest desires and most sacred instincts and impul-
ses. Though the ‘ material ’, by which we mean the purely external condi-
tions, and the ‘ spiritual ’, by which we mean the purely internal activities of
a people to mould and modify each other, it is well-nigh impossible to sepa-
rate them wholly, yet for the purposes of our present study we shall have to
make an effort to isolate and distinguish between them.

The ‘ Spiritual Superstructure ’ is a subtle network of unseen threads
linking mind to mind, which gives a personality to the community and guides
those who shape its destinies. A close exaiqination reveals to us the follow-
ing main “threads”. There is the thread of “Law and Government” — political
and legal organization — which regulates social conduct and is sanctioned by a
set of ideas concerning the necessity of social cohesion and public discipline.
Law and Order are absolutely indispensable to a well-ordered and useful

4

CULTURAL HISTORY OP GUJARAT

existence. This is the ‘ Temporal Factor ' of Political Heritage of a people :
(Chapter IV).

There is, then, the most vital thread of '‘Marriage and Family”, the
nucleus of all social existence. Just as the State is necessary to a well-order-
ed existence, free from fears and external annoyances^ even so is * Marriage
and Family ’ necessary to preserve the decencies of social intercourse and
build up a stable social superstructure which makes all human effort and
achievement possible. This is the ' Social Factor ’ of Marriage and Family in
a particular Society : (Chapter V).

One solitary individual finds himself ineffectual if he has not the
strength of some social organization behind him. Group-action and social
progress are possible only if the separate social groups act in harmony, weav-
ing the varied interests of a society into a single cord of human uplift. This
is the ‘ Socio-Economic Factor ’ of Corporate Life among the people : (Chapter
VI).

Then comes the thread of "Religion” — to Indian minds the most vital
thing of all — illuminating every nook and corner of human existence, domi-
nating not only individual but even group-activity, as witness the treaties,
the alliances and the conflicts which have arisen out of religious zeal. Insti-
tutional religion establishes itself as power-house of social control, and
mankind has governed itself at every stage by the help of, and in the inter-
ests of, religion and religious institutions. This is the ‘ Spiritual Factor ^ of
Religious Institutions : (Chapter VII).

Adjustment to his physical, social, economic and religious environ-
ments takes up an enormous amount of Man’s time and energy. When these
are attended to reasonably well, the pressure of life lets up somewhat; and he
then has leisure to think of his comforts and lesser needs. The leisure,
secured by a settled organization to meet the demands of the struggle for ex-
istence, he devotes to what may be called the “Arts of Pleasure”. It is to the
advantage of any society that its members should not be content with crude
pleasures; for the refinements of existence and aesthetic tastes are amongst
the finest flowers of a civilization. This is the “Aesthetcc Factor” of what
may be called the ' Useful’ as well as the ‘ Fine ’ Arts in human life : (Chapter
VIII).

And then we have another thread — the thread of "Language and Liter-
ature”. It expresses a people’s sense of beauty, its reaching out towards
Truth. It expresses the inmost longings and desires, failings and ideals, of the
human heart, laying bare the deeply-hidden main springs of life itself; and it
impresses itself in no uncertain manner on the formation and reformation of
social life and organization. Language is not a mere jumble of words. Each

INTRODUCTION : THE SCHEME OF STUDY

0

word is charged with associations that touch feelings and evoke thoughts, too
deep and subtle to be expressed in speech.

Then finally, there is the thread of ‘Education’— a uniform system of
bringing up and training the young. This produces a distinct type of mentality,
shaping the minds of men to a certain uniformity, and turning them into
decent men and good citizens, with a sense of their social obligations and res-
ponsibilities towards themselves and the State. This is the composite 'Liter-
ary Factor ’ of Language, Literature and Education : {Chapter IX ) .

Ill

The period chosen covers a vast tract of years. Without any reference
to the pre-History and the proto-History of Gujarat, within this long period
lie three main epochs in the history of Gujarat : the Hindu epoch upto 1297
A. D., the Moslem epoch upto 1752, and the Maratha upto about 1818 or a
little later. The known records date from the times of Mularaja Calukya, who
brought the major portion of Gujarat and Saurastra under one sway, ascend-
ing the throne of Anahilwad in Vikrama Sarhvat 998 (942 A.D.). Of the times
before that we know very little save only what a few coins (as of the
K^atrapas)and inscriptions and copper-plate grants (as of the Maitrakas and
the Gurjara-Pratiharas) can tell us. We shall be on surer ground from the
times of Mularaja, till we come to the occupation of Gujarat by the British
in the first quarter of the nineteenth century.

This marks the beginning of social, intellectual and religious upheaval
in the life of the Gujaratis. It was a challenge to replace all the old and
time-honoured ways of our forefathers by a foreign culture. The highest to
the lowest strata of society were lured to a change which would make the
highest more high, and the lowest as high as the highest. It was a challenge
to our old economic organisation, in as much as money economy wanted to
displace the old social economy. Liberty of personal religion, the right to
worship whom and as we will, and equality of opportunities for all are some
of the vital features^ that invaded our national existence. So the beginning
of this momentous occasion seems a very suitable ending to the period we
propose to study : for, that is the moment when Gujarat stood, as it were, at
the cross-roads.

The ancient Hindu epoch will carry us through the Mauryan, the
Ksatrapa and the Gupta supremacy in Saurastra, the rise and fall of the
Maitrakas at Valabhipura, and to the founding of Panchasar and Anahilwad by
the Cavadas. Records of this period will enable us to trace the sources of the
springs of the people of Gujarat in all its ramifications, and to give a synthetic

6

CULTURAL HISTORY OF GUJARAT

account thereof, which will deal not only with the Hindu period, but will
extend to all the epochs under purview.

IV

All incidents, unless they be taken singly, are found to be links in
the ever-lengthening chain of human life and evolution. Social, political,
religious and economic organizations affect and are affected by their
environments ; and both together, in their turn, affect the life of the people
as a whole, giving an ultimate shape to their ways of living, their ideas
and ideals. The same holds true of literature. When we investigate the
literature of any given moment, we have to take into account its relation,
not only with the then existing state of society, but also with all the other
literatures from which it has developed and which has helped to mould
contemporary life in all its aspects.

Thoughts, feelings, ideals change; the manner of their utterance
changes likewise. Chasms yawn between us and bygone generations; and
many a book, or piece of art, or religious dogma which once enthralled the
hearts of men seems vapid and futile to us, who belong to another age, and
are touched by other modes of “passion” and use other manners of speech.

Ancient forms of art — ^such as literature, sculpture, paintings, coins,
architecture, etc., — which to us to-day are hopelessly lacking in all artistic
appeal, and whose importance for us lies only in their antiquity, — are,
nevertheless, for scholars and antiquarians, magic portals which usher them
straightway into the fairyland of poignant and thrilling romance. Are they
not records of bygone ages, living messages from the hearts of the ancients
to our own, giving us precious glimpses into their lives — their activities,
thoughts, and aspirations?

Literature records every aspect of life; and is meant to appeal to
every type of mentality and to respond to every mood; nevertheless, unaided
it cannot resuscitate for us the whole life of any society. If we ask, for
example, why our Gujarat! writers produced, and wby Gujarati rural
audiences — ^with Rakhidas as the patron — enjoyed Samal Bhatta’s stories in
the 18th century; or why the versions of the Epics and the Puranas were
more current in the 16th and the 17th centuries; or why the shorter lyrics
of Dayaram were favourites with the people of the 19th century; or why
the didactic poetry of Dalpatram enjoyed the greatest popularity in the
century previous — or, if we were to ask why mediaeval Gujarati writers
found their best artistic expression in the * Akhyanas or what induced more
than one writer to make renderings of the same Purapic Episodes at about

INTRODUCTION ; THE SCHEME OF 8TUOT

n

the same time; or, if Mire ware to seek the causes for the general coldness
of one section of the society towards the conventional sermons of the Jaina
ascetics on the one hand, and the strong and often stormy passion which
swept into the Bhakti poetry with the development of Vaispavism on the
other, — ^we shall find that the answer will carry us far beyond the
comparatively narrow limits of mere literary taste.

V

The sources for the cultural history of Gujarat may be divided into
four classes. The first of these is ‘tradition’, as recorded chiefly in the
writings of Pandits, Yatis, Bhatas and Caranas, and the ^eat mass of
miscellaneous folk-literature besides; the second consists of those writings
of foreign travellers and historians which contain observations on Gujarati
life and manners; the third is the evidence of Archaeology, which may
be subdivided into the monumental, the epigraphic, and the numismatic; and
the fourth comprises the few contemporary or nearly contemporary works
which deal expressly with semi-historical and socio-religious subjects.

The great Sanskrit Epics, whose vernacular recensions have existed
from the 13th century upto the present times, are of special value as
traditional pictures of social life and sentiments during the period, and so
are the works of poets and saints — ^which, put together, afford considerable
material for the sociologist— and the ‘Rasas’ of the Jaina sect, which though
still imperfectly known, are yet of considerable sociological value, because
of numerous statements and allusions they contain.

We possess no historical records of the earlier times — say from the
date of Krsna’s Yadava Colony in Saurastra, except such as have been
preserved in the stories of sages and heroes of old, in genealogies and
dynastic lists, in coins, copper-plate grants and stone-inscriptions — the reason
being that in those times intellectual activity was strictly restricted to the
religious orders — Brahmanas, or Jaina and Buddhist monks — and thus
literature dealt wit,ji systems of faith rather than national history, with
speculation than with action, with ideas than with events, with spiritual than
with social evolution. This has rendered it an inexhaustible store-house
of valuable records for the historian of Religion and Philo.sophy, Law and
Political Institutions; but hardly for the historian of Social Life and Manners
before the Muslim conquest. '

The inscriptions, most of which are commemorative, dedicatory or
donative, supply most valuable evidence regarding the political, social and
economic conditions of the period and the country to which they

8

CULTURAL HISTORY OF GUJARAT

belong. The coins have preserved the names and titles of kings who have
left no other record, and sometimes enable us to reconstruct the dynastic
lists and determine the chronology and the geographical limits of ancient
kingdoms. The devices on the coins and the names of mint-towns afford
interesting information. In Prof. Rapson’s words, 'The Muse of History
has often been helped by her Numismatic hand-maid.”

The foreign authorities, i.e., the records of impressions left on the
minds of Greek, Muslim, Chinese, Portuguese and English travellers,
describe events which have, in many cases, been completely ignored by the
Brahmin, Jaina and Buddhist writers of those times. Thus these two
contemporary sources of information regarding political, religious and
social institutions are independent of each other, and hence of prime
historical value; although the observations of foreigners must necessarily
be superficial, needing verification at every step, and not by any means to
be regarded as pure and unadulterated gospel.

Foreign scholars are seldom so interested in the past of an alien
country as to make an intensive study of it; still, what little we know of the
ancient history of Gujarat is due to the pioneer efforts of A. K. Forbes,
Col. Todd, Campbell, Watson, Burgess, Cousens and others.

Gujarati society is the embodiment of an ancient tradition which
underwent modification only in the last century, when it came in contact
with a distinctly new culture; and it will be our task to examine this
ancient culture and its far-reaching influence on the lives of the people of
Gujarat. As early as 1858 A. D., Kavi Narmadashankar chalked out the
ines for such a study in his two articles on Gujardtionl Sthiti.^ Govar-
dhanram TripathVs paper based on the historical, and literary materials then
available, dealt with the Influence of the Gujarati Poets on Society and
Morals,* The third attempt at a study of Social Life of Gujarat as portrayed
in Sdmalahhat^a's Metrical Romances was by Ranajitram Vavabhai in the
first decade of the present century/' Dr. K. M. Munshi® in Gujardta : Eka
Sdnskdrika Vyakti, visualised Gujarat as a ‘ Cultural Unit In Gujardta-
ni Sanskritinu Avalokana! the late Ratnamanirao Bhimarao gave us a
cultural and social study of Gujarat. Gujardtand Sdnskdritvanu GhadatarcC

3. Printed in iVarmo-grtdya, (1875).

4. Classical Poets of Gujarat, ( 1894).

5. Vide, Buddhi-Pralcdsh, (1909).

6. Lecture before 5dfiit2/a Samsad, Bombay, (1922).

7. Vide, his subsequent Volumes on Cujardtano Sdnskdrika Itihdsa, Islam Yuga^
Vol.I (1945), Vol. II (1954), Vol.IH (1957), Vol. IV (1959).

8. Kaumudi Monthly, (1931).

INTRODUCTION : THE SCHEME OF STUDY

9

by Prof. K. H. Kamdar and an illuminating cultural study of Gujarati Prajd-
n& Laksano^y by the late Ramanlal Desai deserve mention as covering
the same common ground. Prof. Rasiklal Parikh’s Background of Gujarat
Hiatory upto Siddhardja and Kumdrapdla^°, and a complementary survey
of the Infiltration of the Brahmanical Tradition in Gujardt^' by Durgashahkar
Shastri also deserve mention. Mohanlal Desai, Muni JinavijayajI and Muni
Punyavijayaji have portrayed in their various writings the special quota of
the Jainas to the general culture of Gujarat.

VI

The social history of a race must necessarily be co-extensive with its
cultural history. For, culture is the sum-total of the intellectual, moral and
institutional achievements of a people, and is best revealed in the ideas they
entertain and the ideals they cherish, which again, in their turn, generally
seek expression in contemporary literature, the mirror par excellence of the
mind of the age.

Unfortunately, however, the concerns of worldly life hardly interested
the thinking people of those times. Everyday occurrences were hardly likely
t o touch the imaginations of those who lived in the world, but were no
‘‘of it”.'* They were transcendentalists, not sociologists.

Indirect allusions, however, and passing references to contemporary
events, similes and metaphors drawn from contemporary life, pen-pictures
unwittingly drawn of living men and women while trying to portray char-
acters in the Puranas and the Epics — ^these we may find in plenty’^ and the
social life of those days can, to certain extent, be reconstructed from these;
but this sort of evidence must not be too greatly relied on. Far more con-
clusive is that afforded by the overt acts of the people, which reveal aspects
of their mental and physical life regarding which, perhaps, both tongue and
pen have been silent.

9. Jivana ane Sdhitya, Part I, ( 1936 ) .

10. Introduction, Vdt. II, Hcmacandra's KdvydnuSdsana, (1936).

11. Thakkar Vasanji Lectures (1946); Bharatiya Sanskdronu Giijardlamu
AvataravLaj (1950).

12. The ideal of these people is mirrored in ' Arjuna-Gitd * by Dhanadas, Brhat
Kdvya Dohanaj Part II, page 82 ; —

“ wiRJif w:# w <Tr?? :

& 5in>i iTKt

13. Cf. *Do§i Vaoio’ and *l§amalasha Setha* in Premananda’s 'Mdmeru^ and

'dukracdrya* in Ahhimanyu Akhydna, Draupadi in * Subhadrdharana', etc.

10

CULTURAL HISTORY OP GUJARAT

Philology may be requisitioned to explain certain historical facts and
events; and so may etymology, which is of great help in the investigation of
the origins of customs, and may enable us to trace those of Gujarat to either
the Mahomedans or the original Hindus.

A number of proverbs and witty sayings are nothing but lightning-
sketches of the various items of the social life of the times. Although they
afford us glimpses into the domestic life of the people, they are hardly
adequate to give us a proper estimate of their social character; while the
political histories extant, contain but few details which would be of special
interest to the student of sociology.

This study is an effort to describe the evolution of the life and ideals
of an ancient and historical people, loosely called * Gujaratis*. The territorial
acquisition of Gujarat by the British in 1818 A. D. marked the beginning
of a distinctly new period in the history of Gujarati people, and the
investigation had to stop at this period of momentous transition.

The social history of Gujarat in the 19th century differs so much and so
markedly from that which preceded it, that it must be reserved for a future
study. That will be a fascinating story indeed — the story of a most
difficult social adjustment and adaptation, of a fusion of conflicting cultures,
when an ancient people were called upon to accept strange and alien ways of
thinking and living and to mould themselves accordingly — with what results,
only the future historian can tell us.

Chapter 1

THE GEOGRAPHICAL FACTOR :
TERRITORY AND CLIMATE

T he starting point for the study of things human is natural environ-
ment. Physical conditions, such as climate, topography, and water-
distribution, and the type of organic life they create, have an immense
influence on the life and growth of man.

Kavi Narmadashankar has poetically described the boundaries of
Gujarat thus ; in the north Amba Mata, in the east Kali Mata, in the south
Kuntesvara Mahadeva and in the west Somanatha and Dwarka— these are
the four limits of Gujarat.'

This region, which is composed of two parts— the mainland of Gujarat
and the peninsula of modern Saurastra — was not called ' Gujarat ’ in ancient
times, nor did it form one geographical or political unit.

It comprised three provinces of which the peninsula was named Saura-
stra, and the other portion, roughly speaking, consisted of Anarta and the
Lata, Anarta forming the northern and Lata the central and southern parts
of the present Gujarat. The exact boundaries of these provinces were, how-
ever, uncertain, and they varied greatly during the course of history.’

1. »iRr,

b ^ ^ :

^ K 'ifanT :

5i?f 3iq g5T^. ”

2. For earlier references to the Province, Vide Cunningham's The Ancient
Geography of Indit, pp. 11-12 ; —

"The five divisions of India or “the Five Indies’* as they are usually called
by the Chinese : mentions Western India as comprising Sindh, and Western
Rajputana with Kaccha and Gujarat and a portion of the adjoining coast of
the lower course of the NarmadS river.”

See, also, Bthat Samhitd: Chapter XVI. 31, 32, .33: —

“ I JIHI ii ”

Jayamangala, the commentary on Vatsyayana’s Kamamtras locates ai'RRl and
as under : —

1 i si^r: i ” etc.

12

CULTURAIi HISTORY OF GUJARAT

Gujarat occupies an important part of western sea-board of India
from Sindh to Bombay. The term ‘ Gujarat ’ is used in two different senses :
first, to denote the mainland between Mount Abu and the river Damana-
gaiiga along with Saurastra and Kaccha; and, secondly, in the much larger
sense, Gujarat’s northern linguistic boundary touches the states of Sirohi
and Marvad where MarvadI is spoken, and includes the districts of Thar
and Parkar in Sindh, as also Kaccha.

Gujarat generally represents the territories that actually comprised
‘ Gujarat ’ from the Calukyan period to the period of the Maratha regime,
as well as the territories known in earlier period under different names
such as Anarta, Lata, Aparanta, Saurastra, Kaccha etc. These boundaries
of Gujarat have been found varying throughout the course of history.

Gujarat consists of regions, which in some respects are different from
one another. They are : (i) North Gujarat, the mainland between Mount
Abu and the river Mahl; (ii) South Gujarat, the mainland between the
Mahl and the Damanagahga; (iii) The tract south of the Damanagahga
up to multi-lingual island of Salsette and Bombay, where Gujarati is
partially spoken; (iv) The peninsula of Saura?tra; and (v) Kaccha, which
for cultural and literary purposes has always been regarded as part of
Gujarat.

In Gujarat the Palaeoliths have been found in the valleys of the
rivers Sabarmati, Mahl and Narmada in the deposits of the Middle
Pleistocene period (some 3,50,000 years old). Man was a hunter and food-
gatherer throughout the duration of the Palaeolithic period, which was
succeeded in Gujarat by the Microlithic period. However, a long gap
(hiatus) is observed between these periods in the cliff sections of the
Sabarmati, Mahl and Narmada. The evidence of this ‘hiatus’ was furnished
by the stratigraphy of the Sabarmati valley. Subsequent researches disclosed
a peculiar industry of stone-tools consisting chiefly of the tiny blades, known
as ‘microliths’, made of various siliceous stones (flint, chert, agate etc.) from
the layers ascribed to the ‘ hiatus ’. This microlithic blade-industry, char-
acterising a distinct cultural phase, transitional between the Palaeolithic
and the Neolithic, is termed the ‘ Mesolithic '. A large number of microlithic
sites have been found in Gujarat, Saurastra and Kaccha. The microlithic
tradition of manufacturing stone-implements seems to have survived in
India more or less to about 1000 B. C., in a way mixed with the cultures
of the Copper and Bronze ages, also called the Chalcolithic period, to which
period the well-known prehistoric civilizations of the Indus Valley
belong. The diggings at the early historic sites of Amrell, Kamrej, and Intva
(Junagadh) have not yielded microlithic layers. It is maintained that in

THE GEOGRAPHICAL FACTOR : TERRITORY AND CLIUATE

13

Gujarat and Central India, the microlithic culture does not possibly belong
to a period later than 1000 B. C.‘

The recent discovery of Harappan sites in Kaccha and excavations
at Lothal (five miles from Dholka) and Rahgpura (eight miles from
Dhandhuka)have proved that there was a wide dispersion of Harappa culture
in Gujarat and Saura^tra. This has filled the gap in the chronology of
Western India from the end of the Indus Valley civilization to the beginning
of the Buddhist Period. Unlike at Harappa and Mohen-jo-daro, the
Harappan culture died a natural death in Saurastra, and along the Western
Coast, after surviving here for a longer period upto 1100 B. C., evolved
a new culture through gradual change, owing to its isolation. This is the
post-Harappan culture which, in its last days by 700 B. C., came in
contact with a Chalcolithic culture of the pre-Buddhist period (pre-NBP),
dated between 700 and 1000 B. C. at Mahesvara. Thus a devolution and
not a sudden disappearance of the Harappan culture is in evidence. The
maritime route taken by Harappans to Sauras(ra has been mentioned in
“Indian Archaeology — A Review : 1954-55

In the proto-historic times. North Gujarat was called Anarta, after
the name of king Anarta, son of Vaivasvata Manu. The Mdhabhdrata
treats Saurastra as included in Anarta; its original capital was Kusasthall,
believed to have been destroyed by the Punyajana Raksasas, who were
identified with the Panikas of the Vedas and the pre-historic Phoenicians.

In mythic times, what is Gujarat and Malava now, were occupied by
a federation of tribes called Haihaya Talajahghas and their conqueror
Sahasrarjuna has been considered one of the earliest Emperors in traditional
history. Apart, therefore, from the aborigines, styled Nagas, this region
might have been occupied by homogeneous tribes of the swarm of Aryans
that first entered India, known as the Outer-band of Aryans, and the
Yadavas, allied to the Haihayas, were possibly the first Inner-band Aryans
who migrated to Saurastra.

The Baudhdyana Dharma Sutras include Anarta among those impure
countries to which an Aryan was forbidden to go. But all the same, it does
not appear to be an unimportant region. Its later capital, Anandapura
or Anartapura (modern Vadnagar), was a city of great learning and
importance and continued to be so till about the tenth century. Anarta,
however, formed part of the empires of the Mauryas, Indo-Greeks, of the
Saka Ksatrapas and of the Guptas. On the decline of the Gupta empire,
Anarta formed part of the kingdom of Valabhipura. In the seventh

3* Dr. B. Subbarao : Baroda through the Ages, (1953), p. 106.

14

CULTURAL HISTORY OF GUJARAT

century Saura^tra, Anarta and the region between the Sarasvatl and the
Narmada, then called Malava, formed part first of the kingdom of Valahhi
and later that of Bhillamala or Srimala, near Mount Abu, which was the
capital.

From about the end of the eighth century Anarta with Saurastra and
south Gujarat up to Kim, formed part of the empire of Imperial Pratiharas.
When in 940 A. D. the empire of Kanauj broke up, Mularaja established
himself in the principality of Anahilvad Patan. After Siddharaja, the words
‘ Gurjara-Mandala ’, ‘ Gurjara-Bhumi and ‘ Gurjara-Desa ’ came to be applied
to whatever territory which Calukyas claimed as their domain. In 1141 A. D.
Gurjara-Desa included Dohad; but parts of South Gujarat were merged in
Gurjara-Desa after the conquests of Siddharaja and Kumarapala, and were
generally called by that name. The original Anarta that was first included
in the kingdom of the Gurjaras, however, remained in the popular mind as
Gujarat proper.

The territory of Anarta roughly corresponds with the PaschaddeSa
of Rajasekhara*, which he placed to the west of Devasabha (possibly
Aravalli Mountain) and included within it the Janapadas of Saurastra,
Daseraka, Travana, Bhrigukaccha, Kacchlya, Anarta, and Arbuda. This
‘ Paschaddesa ’ would seem to include the territory from Abu upto Nasik,
including Saura$tra and Kaccha, which practically covers the modern
Gujarati-speaking area.*

Saurastea had a long proto-historic past. In a remote period, before
the Himalayas rose in the place of an ocean and when its present rivers were
being formed. Early Man wandered on their banks. Possibly the Dublas,
Minas, Dhedias, Caudharas, Varlis, Katkarls who inhabit the triangle South
of the Narmada between the sea and the ghats, are the descendants of these
dark-skinned and stunted people. The Kolls, whose ancient habitat was in
Gujarat and Saurastra, are possibly the descendants of another race of early
men who lived here in the Stone age.

The so-called Indus Civilization (3500-2750 B.C.) was not restricted to
the valley of the Sindhu. There is definite evidence that it also extended to
Sindhu, Saurastra and the region of the Narmada and the Tapi." It was at
the ports of Broach and Cambay that the carnelian industry in India appears
to have concentrated. The western coastal region of the Indian peninsula,
Saura^ti^a, the valleys of the North-West Frontier Province, Sindh, the Pun-

4. Kdvyamimdrhsd, 93.

5. For details, see Dr. K. M. Munshi, Gujardt and Its Literature, (1934), p. XV.

6. Dikshit Pre-historlc Civilization of the Indue Valley, p, 12.

THE GEOGRAPHICAL FACTOR : naUUTORY AND CLlltATB

IS

jab, the upper Doab, if not the whole of the Gangetic and the habitable parts
of Rajputand were thus comprised within the limits of a civilization which
can approximately be called ‘Proto-Indian*.

Saurastra is a very ancient name, though the much more ancient nune
is Kusavarta. The Rathikas lived in Saurai^tra during the days of Asoka;
possibly the original Prakrit of the word was Radda or Rattha which perhaps
survives in the name of Reddis, Rathors, Sorath and Maratha. It is more than
likely that the words Anarta, Saurastra, Makdrd?tra are the Sanskritised
names of the three regions of Anarttha, Su-rattha, and Maha-rattha.'

Suras^a is also referred to in the Epics, the Puranas and classical
Sanskrit literature, as also by foreigners like Strabo, Pliny, Ptolemy, Periplus
and Hiuen Tsang. The Marathas gave Saura^t^a the name of the tribe
(Kathis) which offered them the greatest resistance. On the integration of
Kathiawad to Free India (1947), the old name of Saurastra was restored.

In the Calukyan period, Saurastra was included in 'Gurjarabhumi ’ and
so was it under the Sultanate of Gujarat and under the Mughal Empire as
* Sorath Sarkar after Akbar conquered it. It was only during the British
period that Saurastra was detached from the mainland, and the jurisdiction
of several rulers, big and small, came to be recognised.

Kaccha has always been known by that name; and, though politically
separate, its fortunes have invariably been linked with those of Gujarat; and,
for cultinral and literary purposes, it has always been regarded as part of
Gujarat.

Aparanta and north Kohkana, may or may not have been identical in
the Mahabharaia age; but we learn from the Mahdbhdrata that Arjuna visited
all the holy places in Aparanta upto Prabhasa’, which is in Saurafitra, sug-
gesting that Aparanta stretched from Saurastra to Kohkapa.

In Buddhist literature, we come across the name Sunaparanta* or
simply Aparinta'". Sunaparanta was in Buddhist times a country on the
western sea-board of India, of which the chief town was Surparaka, now
known as Sopara. The people of this place were known to the preachers of
early Buddhism as f^rce and rude; it was at Sopara that one set of rock-
edicts of Asoka was set up.

In the Junagadh rock-inscription", Mahaksatrapa Rudradaman (150
A.D.) is described as the “lord of the east and west, Akar, Avanti, the

7. K. M. Munshi, Gujarata and its Literature, Introduction xvii.

8. Mahabh&rata, Adi Parva: 218, 1-2.

9. Majjhima-Nikdya, III, 268; Sarhjutta-Nikaya, IV, 61.

10. Dipavarhta, VIII, 7; Mahavamea, XII, 5; Samanta-v&eadika, /, 67.

11. Epigraphia Indiea VIII, 44; Ibid., 60.

16

CULTURAL HISTORY OF GUJARAT

Anupa, Anarta, Surastra, Svabhra, Maru, Kaccha, Sindhu-Sauvira,
Kukura, Aparanta and Nisada^*. This Aparanta was conquered by Raghu,
according to Kalidasa** by crossing the Sahya mountains. The Jayamangald
commentary on the Kdmasutras also says that Aparanta was situated near
the Western sea.

Aparanta was also used to designate peoples or tribes. In the Mdr-
kandeya Pwrdna", the following are called the people of Aparanta : Saurpa-
rakas» Svapadas, Kurumins, Kalandas, Durgas, Anikatas, Pulindas, Nasikyas
and Bharukacchas, the Maheyas, the Sarasvatas, the Kacchikas, Saura-
stras, Avantyas and the Arbudas.

The country south of Mahl or at times south of Narmada upto the
Purna or as far as Daman was called Lata. In the second century A. D.,
Ptolemy referred to it as ‘ Larike mostly as a political division rather than
a geographical one, and as such included in addition to the sea-board an ex-
tensive, inland territory. Barygaza or Bharu-Kaccha meaning, ‘high
coast-land* was its chief port. ‘Larike’, though obviously derived from Lata,
Lata is first mentioned by name in the Mandasor inscription of Kumaragupta
and Bandhuvarman (436 A. D.)*^ ; thereafter the name gradually became
more common.

Lata had its own language or dialect. Bhoja, the Paramara Emperor,
in his Sarasvati-Kanthdbharana mentions that the people of Lata had their
own language, which was a kind of Prakrt. But soon after the reign of
Bhoja, Calukya Karna annexed Lata, and thereafter Lata became an integral
part of the Solanki empire, which soon came to be known as ' Gurjarabhumi ’.
Bhrgukaccha in Lata and Surparaka in Konkana were both associated
with Parasurama, the descendant of the Sage Bhrgu. North Konkana remained
unconquered till Kumarapala (1143-74) annexed North Konkana, and made
it a province of his kingdom. His successors, however, retained their hold
only over certain places along its coast. In 1310 Thana is stated to have been
included in the kingdom of Gujarat, which was then governed by the
viceroy of the Sultanate of Delhi.

These three provinces— Lata, Anaria and Surastra were divided
throughout the Christian era into several petty states, all differing from one
another in interests and ideals as also in name, thus preventing the
people from forming themselves into one compact society.

Geographically, the proviiice of Gujarat extends from the south of
Mount Abu to north of Thana, a long uninterrupted tract of land where

12. Raghuvamsa, Sarga IV, Verses 52-53.

13. Adh. LVII, Verses 50-52.

14. Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum, III. 81.

THE GEOGRAnnCAL FACTOR : TERRITORY AND CUMATE

17

Gujarati is spoken. Still, the three natural divisions, viz., (1) Peninsular
Gujarat or Saura^tra, (2) North Gujarat or the mainland of Gujarut or
between Mount Abu and the Mahi River, and (3) South Gujarat between
the Mah! and the Daman-Gahga rivers, have preserved certain characteris-
tics, peculiarly their own. f

On the basis of the contours of the land three distinct culture-zones of
Gujarat may be distinguished : (1) Kaccha is a low and arid region with a
very thin rainfall. The people are hardy and calculative in their dealings
but endowed with a rare spirit of enterprise and a wonderful gift for arts and
for business organization. (2) Saurastra is a plateau in the centre, radially
sloping to a narrow belt of coastal plains, with a moderate rainfall and a
good forest cover. The people are hardy and hospitable; and have a long
maritime as well as martial tradition. They are artistic and have a wealth of
romantic and devotional folklore, yet were stamped as tricky and intriguing.”
(3) The Coastal Gujarat with its northern extension falls into two
sub-zones : North Gujarat, i.e., the country between Mount Abu and the
Mahi river, is arid and merges gradually into the desert of Rajasthan. The
people are simple, sober and practical in their outlook. In contrast, the
people of the fertile river-plains of the Central and South Gujarat are soft
and pleasure-loving.” They are also more sophisticated and vivacious in
their outlook. Deccani and Dravidian influences are discernible in their
speech, dress, and manners as one moves south, where Gujarat merges
gradually into North Konkan.

A fourth zone, comprising the highlands of Saurastra and the border
lands in the east and south, where the population is almost wholly tribal,
may also be distinguished. This region is undulating and fairly forested.
The people are backward in material culture and illiterate, but hardy and
simple.

t For further references, see ’Kavyamimdihsd’, Notes, on pp. 93-94 (G. O.

Series, No. 1). •

15. Vide, Navalram’s poem ‘Gujordt-nt Musdiari’ (A stroll in Gujarat) ;

“ Wir,

jftsr ^ ipwl <101 3R3ir, ^ *n«Rrr— ssigW® "

16. Ibid. ; ijfr^ fTOfi? ^ ;

'tra, 3j5i^o

5^, OTT ft! 35i^i%o’'

18

CULTURAL HISTORY OF GUJARAT

By virtue of a long coast-line with several convenient anchorages and
by its proximity to the commercial and cultural routes to East Africa and
Asia, Gujarat has been long exposed to the movements of peoples and to
commercial and cultural contacts from these regions. From very early
times, Gujarat had very extensive maritime activities. As early as Circa
5th Century B. C. Porbandar, Mangrol and Veraval were all well-known
ports. Further, the Calukya and Vaghela kings of Gujarat (942-1297) had
maintained large fleets at Ghogha and at Khambhat (Cambay).

The climate also, of these three divisions differs greatly. The forests
and the heavy rainfall in South Gujarat contribute to the unhealthiness of
the climate. In customs, manners and civilization, North Gujarat, Saurastra
and Kaccha, preserve much that is old, while South Gujarat has been affected
by outside influences and by settlers, primitive and civilized. In fact, in
spite of the different natural divisions of Gujarat, with the different river-
valleys and the varieties of soil, agriculture, people, customs, speech, and
dress — each of these three presents a homogeneous Gujarat with common
traditions and common culture.”

Let us now see how and when the modern name ‘‘Gujarat** came to be
applied to these territories. Up to the 10th century, ^^Curjara-mandala*' or
"Gurjara-bhumi** hardly denoted territories comprising modern Gujarat.
During the thirteenth century the whole of northern Gujarat was known as
the ‘territory of the Gurjaras*, which is why Hemacandra describes the army
of his Solanki patron Kumarapala as consisting of Gurjaras.*“ The Dohad
inscription of 1140 A. D. speaks of Siddharaja Jayasiihha as the “Ruler of
Gurjara Mandal**.^^ In the '^Somandtha Prasasii ”, dated G. E. 850, (i, e. 1168-
69 A. D.), Kumarapala is called ‘King of Gurjara Mandala*, a name which
Hemacandra also assigned to the country over which his patron ruled. The
Girnar inscription dated 1222 A. D. enables us to conclude that the name
‘Gurjara Mandala’ denoted territories wherein were situated the towns of
Anahilwad or Pattan, Starhbhatirtha or Cambay, Darbhavati or Dabhoi and
Dhavalakka or Dholka. Thus, when once the people came to be regarded as
Gurjaras it was but the next step to call their country ‘Gurjara Mandala* or
Gurj ara Ratta ’ or Gujarat.

17. Cf. B.K. Thakore’s Presidential Address, History Section, 6th Gujarati Sahitya

Parishad, Report, p. 6, fn.

18. Prakirta '‘Kumarapala Carita'*, Sarga 6, Gdthd 65.

19. “ i

— Ind. Ant, Vol. X, p. 159.

THE GEOGRAPHICAL FACTOR : TERRITORY AND CLIMATE

19

Southern Gujarat or Lata and Saurastra, however, came to be called
‘Gujarat* only by the end of the 13th or the beginning of the 14th Century,
and the cause thereof was neither geographical nor ethnical, but mainly
political, the Muslims being chiefly responsible for it.

The Mahomedans under Ulugh Khan first conquered Anahilpattan or
Naharwala, and made it their provincial headquarters. Soon afterwards,
they conquered and annexed Soratha and Southern Gujarat, which they
governed from Naharwala. The Delhi Emperors grouped all these provinces
together for purposes of administration : and as Naharwala continued,
for more than a century, to be their capital and the headquarters of the
Imperial Viceroy, the term “Gujarat** came to be extended to all these
territories. Hence we find some Muslim writers including parts even of
Khandesh and Malwa in Gujarat, the reason being that they were ‘governed
by the Viceroy of Gujarat*. Thus, even though the boundaries of Gujarat
Empire were not the same for all periods of history, yet the whole political
and administrative unit was known as ^Gujarat*.

The name Gujarat is popularly believed to have been derived from
Gurjara Rdsfra through Gurjara Rattan rather on the strength of the false
analogy furnished by the names Surdstra and Mahdrdstra^ than on strictly
philological grounds. It appears from the Ghatial inscription of Sarhvat 916
that the words denote the older habitations of the Gurjaras as

known then. “Gujarat** as a corruption of 5^39^1 is perfectly regular and
natural, and quite in accordance with phonetic rules. It means the land
which protected the Gurjaras.

The preservation of the feminine gender of the original in

* Kdnhadade Prahandha *” (V. S. 1512) is an index to the correctness of the
derivation suggested. Gujarat is feminine when the word Dhard or Bhumi
implicitly follows it. Muta Nensi“ in his “Khydta**, writing about incidents
of Gujarat history refers to it as follows

Narmadashankar has ‘Garavl Gujardt *, Khabardar ^Gunavantl Guja-
rdt ** and Umashankar ^ Mori Gujardt *. When, however, the word “ Desa **

20. Dr. A.B. Dhruva suggests that the word “Gujarat” may have been derived
from “Gurjaratra” where ^T5T+5( would yields etc. For further details, con-
sult his Presidential Address at the 9th Gujarati Sahitya Parishad (1929).

21. « ^ qrer «iRraif i ^ ? ii ”

22. A minister to Maharaja Jasvantsiihha of Jodhpur, from Saihvat 1714 to 1723.

20

CULTDRAL mSTOmr or OtUABAT

or “Man^ala” is implicit, the gender is necessarily masculine and neuter: as
we have in ‘ Kitmdrtfpdlo Prahodha’ (V. S. 1241), and elsewhere." Such a
country is Gujarat, with its diverse population, composed of Hindus, Jainas,
Parsis, Muslims, Boharas and Christians, and going by the general name of
‘ Gujaratis ’, as distinct from the population of other provinces of India. The
Gujarat Sultans were styled 'Gujarati’, and so also several of the Gujarati
painters at the ‘Royal Studio’ of Akbar at Delhi. What has Gujarat made
of all these various peoples, and what have they made of Gujarat ?

Three inquiries naturally arise concerning the influence of geographi-
cal factors on the growth of Gujarat’s national character. The first relates
to the external sihape or outline of the territory, and raises the question of
the potentialities of the western coast-line. The second relates to the general
sum of its resources — ^its hills and plateaus, its plains and valleys, the geology
of its rocks, its flora and fauna, the chemistry of its soils, — and the bearing of
these on the development of its agriculture and industry. The third relates
to its climate, which leads to the questions of sunlight and temperature, and
their effect on the bodies and minds of the Gujaratis.

Owing to its isolation, the human stock of an island or a peninsula will
be less mixed than a stock which is set in the midst of a continent and subject
to frequent migrations; for the same reason, it will be more archaic in its
character. Saurastra," however, although isolated, was neither secluded
nor immune from outside attacks, and its history is one long tale of the con-
quests, vicissitudes, feuds and alliances of the Rajaputs, who were its inhabi-
tants from ancient times. The dynastic seats of ancient Gujarat are also in
North and peninsular Gujarat, whether at Dwarka, Junagadh, Valabhipura,
grimala, Vadnagar (Anartapura, Anandapura) , Panchasar, Apahilwad Patan,
Dholka, Kaira (Khetakamapdala), Campaner', Idar or Ahmedabad. The
southern capitals at Bharukaccha and Nandipurl were also known. Over and
above these political vicissitudes, a strong current of religious culture had
also swept over this otherwise isolated peninsula.

23.

24.

Cf. Vallabhabhatt’s (18th Century) * Mahakdli-^no Garabo :

"mm gsRwr ^ ^ ”

So also Nanalal writes :

**The physical features suggest that in tertiary and post-tertiary times it
(Saura$tra) may once have been an island or a group of islands of a volcanic
origin. ”

— Bombay Gazetteer, Vol. VIII, p. 1.

THE GB0QBAF8XCAL FACTOB : TERB1T08T AND CUUATI

21

Due to this influx of men and ideas, as also to its extent of coast and
the gate-way to the sea, the peninsular region has abounded in rich economic
possibilities. The mainland has tended to encourage a life of pasturage and
agriculture; and natural events and human inventions, as well as enterprise,
had to co-operate before the people of Gujarat could become sea-farers. Thus
the ancient trade of Gujarat ports with countries Far East points to its
early civUization and culture.

A long and exposed frontier is a constant source of danger** and
breeds wariness, alertness and energy, zeal for battle and a grim deter-
mination in the people. The need of a powerful and disciplined army and of
a strong executive, free from the control of ordinary courts, is felt, and the
constitution of that territory is moulded accordingly. In Gujarat absolute
monarchy prevailed after the decadence of Hindu polity and Federal govern-
ment, so long prevalent in Saurastra and Anarta in the 6th century — ^so also
its foreign policy, and its relations with its neighbours, were moulded.

The character of a society is, obviously, greatly affected by its locality.
Flora, fauna and the distribution of minerals, especially the metals, have had
a most important influence on human evolation. The discovery of metalsi
and of methods of utilizing them, were literally epoch-making, as the terms
‘ Iron Age ’, ‘ Bronze Age ’, etc., can prove. Less rare, but none the less
important, is the presence of clay suitable for pottery; while the presence or
absence of good timber or stone in a territory determines the character of
its architecture, as well as the occupations of particular sections of society.

Saurastra and Kaccha abound in minerals, and are particularly rich in
building stone. The south-west coast and Zalawad, except the centre,
abound in lime-stone, admirable for building purposes, of which the
Porbandar and Dhrangadra varieties are -perhaps the best known. Doongri
stone is the most used in Surat District, especially as metal for roads,
and Songir or Motipura marbles are excellent for building. Blood-stones
and agates are common near 'J'ankara in Morvi and at Jaghadia near
Broach. Once upon a time they were sent to Cambay and made into
ornaments, boxes, attd other articles. Some varieties of agate and moss-
pebbles are found in the bed of the Majam river, about fifteen miles
away from Kapadvanj. Cornelians are found within Rajpipla limits,
on the left bank of the Narmada, about fourteen miles from
Broach. Masiidi, an Arab traveller in India during the tenth century,
mentions the discovery of emeralds, beautifully green and brilliant,

25. Vide, ‘Chai^akya Sutras’ which lay down : “The one whose boundaries are
close to ours must be taken for an enemy”: 5[F3; I

22

CULTURAL HISTORY OT GUJARAT

near Cambay. There is a reference to the Cambay Agates trade
in the word “Vaidurya”, meaning onyx, which is an old Sanskrit name
for the territory stretching from the Narmada to Gokar^a.* The
Revakantha also, is rich in building stone and agates and cornelians, for
which, as some say, Rajpipla has been famous since the days of Ptolemy
(150 A. D.). Akika (Arabic for agate) means primarily a river-bed;
and is so called because it is found in river-beds and streams. These rough
stones were sawed, chiselled and polished, after which they were made into
“cornelian vessels and knife-handles”,"

Very rich iron ore is foimd in Godhra, Palanpur, and near
Jambugho^a and Shivrajpur in Nirukot, where traces may still be found
of old and disused iron-smelting works. The Panca Mahals are richer in
minerals than the other districts. Their hills contain iron, lead, talc and man-
ganese. The manganese mines which are being worked at present are situated
in the same Shivrajpur and Pani hills; and the mould of iron slag on which
the small Mission House stands, shows that at one time iron ore was smelted
in the neighbourhood of Ghoga. In Saurastra iron used to be smelted both
in Khambhalia and the Bar^a districts, and the remains of ancient smelting-
furnaces are still to be seen near Naganath. Iron ore abounds throughout
the northern portion of the peninsula as ferric oxide and in other forms.
“Iron is found in Pargana Chakka (Surat Sarkar). Iron mines were
worked in former times near the town of Kapadvanj. Heaps of refuse
are still to be seen there. But after the import of foreign iron, native indus-
try had come into disuse”. “In the fields of Naroda or Naharwala in
Parangna Haveli, three Kos from the city of Patan, old iron-pieces called
Mandor are found, which are used by Indian physicians as a cure for certain
diseases”.** This fact of the discovery and general utilization of the mineral
wealth of Gujarat denotes a high stage of culture to which it had attained
in the past.

Considerable tracts of land in Viramgam are covered with earth suited
to the manufacture of salt-petre. There are deposits of gypsum in the Ranna
and in parts of Bhal, and salt-petre can be obtained ip large quantities in
Jhinjhuwada and its neighbourhood. “In the neighbourhood of Pargapa
Badnagar gun-powder is prepared from the nitre there found.” “ The
following reference* to export of salt-petre from Gujarat in the Mughal

26. Ind. Ant., 1.

27. Mirat-i-Ahmadi, Supplement.

28 Mirat-i-Ahmadi, p. 210.

29 Mirat-i-Ahniadi, p. 9.

30. Vide, .Prof. Commisariat's “Bombay University Lectures” (Times of India,
3rd October, .1928).

THE GEOGRAPHICAL FACTOR : TERRITORY AND CLIMATB

23

times is worth noting : “It was mostly obtained at Mdlpur, a small town in
the Mahikaptha Agency. It was in great demand in England, as it was an
important ingredient in the manufacture of gun-powder. Being bulky in its
raw state, salt-petre was refined by the English in their factory at Ahmeda-
bad. Emperor Shah Jehan and his Viceroys in Gujarat often refused the
European merchants permission either to purchase or to refine any salt-petre
for export purposes, as they thought it politically inexpedient and likely to
be used against their co-religionists in Europe or North Africa.”

Sand, used for making mortar, is found in the Mahi, the Vatrak, the
Mesvo and in the smaller water-courses. Near Kapadvanj, Lasimdra, Torpa,
a white crust of impure carbonate of soda forms on the surface of low,
broken ground. This earth is greatly utilised in making glass and soap,” and
as a mordant in dyeing cloth. “Crystal” is found in Kapadvanj, and is made
into decanters, flasks, etc., and bracelets for women. But its colour is green
and it cannot be whitened.” Coarse soda, “Os” used in soap-making, is found
in large quantities in the west of Prantij. A sort of earth found near
Ghoga is sent to Bombay and used in making moulds in foundries. Patfan
potteries'owe their fame to the loamy earth found in the neighbourhood.

There are two mineral springs in Saurastra, one, a hot spring, at Tulsi
gyama in Gir, reckoned one of the most sacred spots in the province; the
other at Pipdaraka in Okhamandal. There are hot springs at Tuwa also,
about ten miles west of Godhra. The water is considered sacred to Mahadeva;
the place is studded with palm-trees and is adorned by a temple. Devaki
Unai hot-springs in Vyara Mahal, of the former Baroda State, are also
held to be sacred.

“There are some select wells on the Kahkaria Tank in the Capital
(Ahmedabad) ’’writes the author of Mirdt-i-Ahmadi, “wherein cotton-clothes,
embroidery and satin if washed increase in lustre and colour. There is a
pond called Kahkaria, near Bara Nainpur, where satin clothes are washed,
and their colour improved. As the pond is dry in summer, water is drawn
from adjacent well and poured into its bed, which being mixed with the
mud of the bottom produces the same effect. ” This, regarded by the author
of Mirdt-i-Ahmadi ds one of the “Wonders of Gujarat”, is clearly due to
nothing else but the mineral quality of the bed of the pond. Ho says further
that “in the neighbourhood of the town "Ona (Sarkar Sorath) there is
a well named Sari, the water of which adds to the temper and sharpness of
swords. The tJna swords are hence famous in the land. “Silver mines which
the smelters secretly worked for themselves" in Kapadvanj,” writes the same
author, “were afterwards left unworked. In the rainy season when the

31. Cf. Dalpatram: “ «Hra qfS, *5^ wisf#.’

24

CULTURAL HISTORY 07 GUJARAT

stream called Sonrekha, in Sorath, flows from Mount Jamil Shah, its sand
yields gold.”"

Till recently the Gujarat region was supposed to be deficient in mineral
fuels like coal, petroleum, and natiural gas. But of late, due to the success*
ful exploration activities of the Oil and Natural Gas Commission, since
1958, possibilities of the existence of rich deposits of various mineral
fuels have been established.

Occiurence of natural gas in some parts of Gujarat State, viz., Ghogha,
Hazat, Baroda and Jagatia has been known for a long time. Recently, occur-
rences of natural gas have been discovered at Lunej (near Cambay) and
Mahuvej (near Anklesvar). At Lunej the gas occurs in association
with petroleum, but in the latter area no oil has been found. At this stage,
it is not possible to predict the extent of the richness of these natural gas
occurrences. If sufficient gas be found this can be utilized for generating
electrical energy for industrial cities like Ahmedabad and Baroda and the
villages all round at a nominal cost.

Prospects for petroleum too are quite encouraging. Drillings at Lunej,
Sokhada and Malsonl near Cambay have indicated the occurrence of an oil-
bearing structure of about 8 square miles. Several oil-bearing horizons exist
between the depths of 1510 metres and 1710 metres. The discovery in June
1961, of a rich oil-field in North Gujarat at Sertha, near Kalol, 15 miles from
Ahmedabad is very promising. The oil was accompanied by gas wider high
pressure. There are possibilities that more such oil-bearing structures
exist in the Cambay area; some of them might even extend in the Gulf of
Cambay. The results of the drilling at Cambay give reasons to hope that
the oil-field is more extensive than has been indicated by the geophysical
data.

Drilling wells at Anklesvar in Broach district, too, have yielded
succes.sf ul results. Drillings at Vaduchi and Hazat in that area have revealed
a much bigger oil-bearing structure of about 20 sq. miles, and the oil found
there appears to be of better quality than that of Cambay. In Anklesvar
region, the oil-bearing horizon occurs at a depth of 1052 zpetres.

Near Baroda, oil has been struck at very shallow depths. At Vadsar
oil occurs at a depth of about 200 metres only and at Padmavatl Sanatorium
in Baroda, it is found at about 300 metres only. Further details of these
occurrences are not yet available.

It is quite likely that the entire region between Surat and Ahmedabad
may be oil-bearing. The finds in the Cambay and Anklesvar areas have

32. Mir&t-i-Ahmedi, p. 211.

THE GBOORAPHICAl. FACTOB ; TEBIUTORY AND CLIMATE ^5

already placed the State of Gujarat on the oil-map of India. Plans for more
extensive exploration to establish the total reserves of oil and natural gas in
this region have been drawn for the Third Five Year Plan period and the
Government of India is already planning to establish a refinery of a suitable
capacity at a suitable location to exploit the petroleum resources of Gujarat.*

But we have spoken enough of the internal content of Gujarat.

Now let us turn to something even more important — ^the flora and
fauna of Gujarat. Animal life became a potent factor in civilization long before
vegetable life did. It was divided into two groups— those useful to men,
or domestic; and those injurious to them, or wild. Primitive people living
on roots and fruits possessed hunting weapons and the domestication of
animals was really the beginning of progress : a regular supply of milk
solved, to some extent, the problem of food; and a far larger number of
individuals could live together in a place where food was furnished by
animals regularly bred and pastured by them. Thus a common food-supply
was a uniting force which rendered possible a wider and more stable social
life; and the necessity of union for the defence of herd-property drew men
still closer together.

Of the domesticated animals of the province of Gujarat, the most
noteworthy are the cow, the buffalo, and the horse. The uses to which
these animals are put depends on the people as well as the climatic and
food conditions. In Western India, cattle are bred principally for the
production of milk and butter. Cows are kept chiefly to produce draught
cattle; and milk is largely obtained from buffaloes. In Gujarat as a whole,
agricultural operations and the transport of goods by road depend mainly
on the draught power of buUocks and buffaloes. The bullock herds of the
Brinjaris, of whom Lakho Vanazaro, in Samalbhatt’s ^Bhadrd Bhdmini”^,
is vividly typical, were the chief carriers of goods on land in mediaeval
times, and have always been heroes of romance and mystery. Camels also
were not unknown, as witness the glowing description in Premanand’s
“Ahhimanyu Akhydna*"^ of one Rabari racing another to fetch a camel
swift enough to takj Uttara to Abhimanyu before he left for the battle."

* Dr. S. S. Merh’s Note on Geology and Mineral Resources; 66th Session Indian
National Congress Souvenir, Bhavnagar, January, 1961, Part III ; ‘A Glimpse of
Gujarat’, pp. 18-19.

33. Vide, ‘Bvhat Kdvya Dohana’, Part III.

34. Vide, ‘Prdclna Kdvyamdld’, No. XXX. ^

35. So also MirSbai, bidding adieu to her country is said to have uttered :

“dismal! Rte i?nn>TR«i sni # #

— srm smid ^ ”

26

CULTURAL HISTORY OF GUJARAT

The finest cattle in India are bred in Northern Gujarat, in tracts of
grassland which surround the Ran^a of Kaccha, and extend northwards into
Rajaputana, the deep alluvial loamy soils of which are excellent for the rear-
ing of young stock. Its arable fields, also, are as fertile as those in any part
of India; and pulse crops are extensively cultivated, producing excellent
fodder which is available when the grazing gets bare.

Gujarat cattle, of which the best are known as ‘Kankareji’ or ‘Wadhiar’
cattle, of the old ‘Vrddhi Pathaka’, are the finest in India for agricultural
purposes. They are both active and strong, swift in ordinary field work,
and the pace at which they draw cumbersome heavy-laden carts through
sandy road-ways is simply amazing. Forbes records that “Prince Karan of
Mewar presented Emperor Jehangir, among the rarities and choice things, a
pair of bullocks of Goozrat”.* Gujarat oxen were noted for their white
colour, size and beauty. Abul-Fazl informs us that the cattle of Gujarat
were considered to be the finest in India, and that a yoke of them was some-
times worth 100 Mohurs, The best Gujarat oxen even exceeded swift
horses in speed, for they could travel 100 miles in 24 hours. We learn from
the Ain-uAkhari that Akbar once bought a pair of cows for a lakh of ddms
or 5,000 rupees;** and also that Gujarat produced the best breed of camels,
though Ajmer bred the swiftest and Thattha in Sindh the best for burden.'"

The best Gujarat buffaloes known as Suratl, arc bred in the Kaira
district and in the adjoining Baroda territory ; they yield upto 30 seers of
milk a day. Jaffrabadi or Nagheri buffaloes are more popular than cows in
the villages because of their greater hardiness and the superior richness of
their milk ; but they are seldom kept by the higher classes of town people
who regard the cow with a greater reverence than do the cultivators. The
wealth of ancient India, which consisted of cattle, was known as ‘Go-dhana\
The Gir cows, nourished by rich grass and abundant water, are famous.
They are bred in Sauras^ra, and their owners are chiefly professional
herdsmen with the comparatively large herds. Bulls which are not required
for stud purposes are either castrated early or sold young, and the young
stock are allowed to roam healthily free.

f

It is said that the full-grown buffaloes of Gir and Nagher will face
a lion'”, which may kill one if it be alone, but never dares to attack if it be

36. Rds Mala, II, Page 243, ( 1924 edition).

37. Blochmann, Ain-i-Akbari, Vol. I, p. 140 and p. 143.

38. Ibid., p. 143.

39. Vide, Tribhuvan Vyas : Eulogy of ‘Sourdyfro Dhara'^i ' : —

WF :

THE GEOGRAPHICAL PACTOR : TERRITORY AND CLIMATE

27

one in herd. Immediately the buffaloes see a lion they form a semi-circle,
and bellowing, attack him in a rush and drive him off. I reproduce here
two stanzas from a CarapI song which will give an idea of this powerful
animal : —

“(The buffaloes) of a shining black hue, with horns ringed and twisted,
with white udders full and heavy (with milk) have gone for grazing on hill
and dale. These are very fond of their young ones, who allow milk to
drizzle in torrents for them, the stream resembling the downpour of rain as

it were — capable of filling even wells wherefor they are prized so

. much for the sweet milk and butter they produce.’’"

Horses of the well-known Kathiawad breed are still found in many
parts of the peninsula. Veraval, during the rule both of the Ahmedabad
Sultans and of the Mughal Emperors, was one of the chief ports to which
Arab horses were brought for the Imperial stables; and it is likely that the
local breeders managed to obtain some as they passed through the peninsula
on their way to the Capital. Ahmedabad also was one of the best horse-breed-
ing districts in the Presidency, because a great number of the KathI, Kabuli,
SindhI, Kacchi, and Arab breed were reared by Kabuli merchants in
Ahmedabad.

The best horse-breeding district in the peninsula is Paftcal in the
heart of the province" including Cotila, Paliad, Anandpu, Bhimora, and
Jasdan. Favourable soil for the formation of the foot, hilly ground for the
development of muscle, running streams of pure water, nourishing grasses,
and a dry and hot climate render Pancal most suitable in every way for the
breeding of horses.

Well-bred Kathi and Kacchi mares have been famous since ancient
times for their speed and agility," and so proud are the Kathis of their

40. Vide, an old Caraoi song : —

“ aiferoftg, wsitg 4tgar aiia

MYl sta'lg, 51^ mfeg :

41. Vide, ‘Ka^hiawa^i Duha’ (1928), edited by Gokuldas Raicura: —

“ mm 5^ ^ <131 me :

ws 3^, w <ihfe I ”

42. Vide, ‘Saurastra Dhara^i ’ by Tribhuvan Vyas:

“%^5Sl m«R{l, mmn mft, sqi :

g3Wf m ^»iq?fl <l?l

28

CULTURAL mSTORY OF GUJARAT

mares that the best animals are seldom for sale. Many a tale and ballad
of Saurastra recoimis the marvellous deeds of mare and stallion in the
troublous times when a man often owed his life to the strength and speed
of his steed.

Sora^h Sarkar also claims to produce excellent horses. Says Forbes :
“The country of Sorath has always been one full of attraction for the Hindu;
it is to him an Earthly Paradise, a land of clear rivers, of well-bred horses,
of lovely women

“In Sorath are jewels five : Horses, Rivers, Women :

Somanath the fourth : Fifth Hari’s presence.”®

Among the wild animals, the lion of the Gir forests is the most
famous.® Gujarat is the only part of India where lions are to be found;
formerly they abounded all over the peninsula and Gujarat.® The mane
of the Gujarati lion is shorter, and its colour, resembling that of a camel,
lighter than that of the African lion. It is called Sdvaj in Kathiawad,
probably a name of Arabic origin, meaning “he who causes the flocks to
bleat”.® A Sorathi woman urging her warrior to be “ a hero in strife”,
compares him to a lion.®

The tiger was always to be found in the beds or among the ravines
of the Mahi. Tigers, lion and other big game were common in Abmedabad
about the end of the 18th century.® Forbes observes : “Tigers were found
in the desolate ground outside of the city-walls; and in the Dholka sub-
division. Dense forests near the Sabarmati were the resorts of lions and
tigers. Untia Wagh or the camel-coloured tiger was very common in high
grass-fields. These tigers on the river-banks were doing much harm to
cattle; and hence at the close of each day the 'inhabitants gathered their
cattle within the village-walls.” Lion-hunts or tiger-hunts, and the scare

43. 'Rata Mala' I, page 313 (1924 edition). There is another couplet re-

counting the live best things of Sorath in a 13th century MSS. in the Oriental
Institute, Baroda : —

II ”

44. Poet Nanalal refers to the lion of Sorath in the following line :

“ 1^ first wpr, «fiS. ”

45. Tribhuvan Vyas : “ ^ ! ”

46. Borodo Gazetteer, Vol. I, p. 72.

47. Poet NSnSlal : ‘Sorathiapi-nu Gita —

“ BrW3I-51JT ^«t ^ ? ”

48. *Oriental Memoirs* (1773 A. D.), Vol, III, 105.

TUB GEOGBAPtnCAL FAGTOR ; TBRtUTORy AND GLIMAtB

29

caused by these beasts, therefore, naturally figiure in the metrical Romances
of Samalbhatt, as well as in the disputed Akhyanas of Premanand.*

Even the elephant was not rare in Gujarat. Elephants from Aparanta
or west coast, according to Kautilya’s Arthaiastra, were of middle size; while
the Saura^tra elephants were of smaller size. As late as the 1 7th century
(1616 and 1645) the Dohad (Pahca Mahals) forests were famous for their
elephants. In 1616 Emperor Jehangir (1605*1627) came to Gujarat to
hunt elephants in the Dohad forests; and in 1645 seventy-three elephants
were caught in the Dohad-Campaner forests.'"

The panther was found throughout the Surat district. In the days of
the early Hindu settlements near the mouth of the river Mahi, wild anima ls
were so numerous that a city on or near the site of Cambay once bore the
title of Vyaghrapalli or ‘Tiger-town’. Gradually, as agriculture made
for settled life, larger population and advanced arts, the wild animals in the
forests became rare; and dogs, horses, sheep, cattle, goats and camels became
parts of the pastoral life of the conquered and conquering peoples in
Gujarat.

The steppes of upper Gujarat furnish food for flocks; and a nomadic
people — ^the Rabarls — inhabit them; rich plains in the river-valleys are
utilized for growing all sorts of crops and evergreens.

The influence of forests on the climate of Gujarat and on the fertility
of its soil is very great. Forests form the head-works of Nature’s irrigation
scheme in Gujarat; and any injury to them affects the regularity of its
water-supply. In early times Saurastra was covered with dense forests. The
Gir forests in the south and the Bar^a forests on the west coast are the
densest, but they contain no valuable timber. Hence building-timber is
imported into Bhavnagar and Jodia chiefly from Bulsar, Daman andDahanu
and still more largely from the Malabar coast. The Dang forests, south
of the Narmada and Tapi, supply the district with teak, black-wood, Kher
(Acacia Catechu), Sadad and many other varieties of useful and diirable
timber.

The Dang forests, with their fine supply of durable timber, not only
encouraged the ship-building industry on the shores near Surat during the
17th century, but also sent timber to other parts of Gujarat and Saurastra,
either by land or by sea. Over and above this, forests were the best suppliers

of medicinal herbs. The author of MiraUi-Ahmedl observes; “In the

/

49. Vide, (0 by Samalbhatt: (Bffcot Kavya Dohana, Part III);

(^) ‘iTRft ascribed to Premanand, (Prdctna Kouvomdid, No. 7).

50. Bombay Gazetteer, Voh 1, p. 183.

30

CULTtT&At HlSTOlty Of GtJJABAT

mountain of Rajpipli many herbs and drugs are found, especially, a drug
from the tree called Ragatroda whose wood, when powdered, is a cure, like
sandal-wood, for many diseases.” “Mount Gimar”, he adds, “abounds in
a variety of vegetation, of which certain herbs are used in alchemy.”

The soil of Gujarat is generally alluvial, except in the hilly parts of
the province. It is roughly divided into (1) black or kali, (2) sandy loam,
or Gorat and (3) that formed by the intermixture of the two, called
Besar. ‘The black soil ploughs itself,’ and is likened to a sponge,
because it retains much moisture. It is called ‘ Kanham ’ from the Sanskrit
word Krsna (Bhumi) : Kanham : “ and in hot weather, the shrinkage due to
evaporation creates fissures which are often several feet deep. Black soil
of moderate depth affords good natural drainage, admits of well-irrigation
and, if well-cultivated, produces all kinds of garden-crops, cotton specially.
The soils of Surat and Broach are alluvial in nature. There are no river-
courses in the red-surface soils, north of the Visvamitri river : so all the
country south of it is black soil for a distance of forty miles, right down to the
Narmada, and all the country to the north of it is red soil, light sandy loam.

The red soil is of recent alluvial formation and is capable of producing
all kinds of crops under intensive farming. The fertile tract between the
Sabarmatl and the Mahl, specially, “may vie,” says Ranade, the historian of
the Marathas, “ for hundreds of miles with the finest park of the nobles of
England” (quoted by Forbes in ‘ Rdsamdla’) . The varieties of soil in different
parts of the land, among other circumstances have formed distinct and
well-marked regions known as Kanham, Corotar’®, Vdkal, Bhdl, Ndgher,
Corydst, Atthdvisi, Curhvdl, Vadhidr, Vdgad, etc., each with its own
special agriculture, population, ways, customs, speech, dress, etc.

51. Cf. the popular couplet : —

“ W'S’T err? =^1rTORr ^irc :

ipjfl, % JTR.”

AlsoNavalram : “An Excursion in Gujarat”: —

% arng ?5T351 ^ : (

5iT?i m, ^ nral:

— g3R:i%o >»

52. Cf. Navalram’s observation of the characteristics of ‘ Carotar the administra-
tive group of 104 villages, the latter part '£ata’ of the compound
• Caturuttara-lata ’ being dropped : —

“ arnr smnr % ^ :

511^ qoi qofi q5?iqi5Sl, ^ ^ :

— ^ gain&o”

THE geographical FACTOR : ITKIUTORY AND CLIMATE

31

The difference between black soil country and red soil country is
interesting. The former is very rich, but, strangely enough, the country
where it predominates looks very much like a desert. No gleaming rivers
break the monotony of the landscape, for their courses are, for the most
part, nearly 30 or 40 feet deep, rendering their flowing waters invisible to the
eye of the distant watcher. Scarcely a tree, and but few bushes, can be seen
for miles, except for small clusters round scattered villages, glimmering
mirage-like in the distance, or looking like islands in the midst of the ocean.

With red surface soil, however, the appearance of the country changes,
although still apparently level. It is cultivated from end to end; high hedges
divide the field; and lofty trees sway in the breeze, obstructing the view on
every side, so that villages, of which there are many, can be seen only when
reached.

The land-approaches and gate-ways to India— the main channel for
the flow of immigrants from Central Asian Steppes and Valleys into this
golden land, as well as the narrow pathways for the commerce of bygone
centuries — have been on the West and North-West. The various streams
and rivulets in the country unite at length in one or the other of the three
great arteries — the Sabarmatl, the Mahi and the Narmada — and eventually
discharge their waters into the Gulf of Cambay. The Narmada and Tapi,
unlike the other rivers of the peninsula which rise in the Western hills and
flow eastwards, flow westwards, in comparatively deep and narrow valleys,
to the Indian Ocean.

The importance of rivers to the country has tended to invest them
with a religious halo; and sacred rivers are numerous in Gujarat, from
virgin Sarasvati, a bright and slender stream — to the mighty flood of adored
Narmada. Next to the Ganges and Godavari, the Narmada ranks, per-
haps, as a most sacred river in India. Innumerable shrines and temples
adorn its banks, and tradition points to an age when it should supersede
the Ganges itself in the power of this sanctifying agency. The banks of the
Tapi, the Mahi, the Sabarmati and of many lesser streams are studded with
holy places, and these rivers are celebrated in sacred Mdhatmyas, forming
parts of the Skanda and other Puranas.

In the Temperate Zone (wherein the Province of Gujarat is situated),
there are no extremes of heat and cold; there is an abundance of fertile soil
and a plentiful rainfall — all conditions favourable to the growth of good and
useful vegetation — and an equable climate, which makes it impossible for
men to work all the year round, and conduces greatly both to their develop-
ment and to the welfare and progress of the society to which they belong.

32

CULTURAL HISTORY OR GUJARAT

In mountainous country and elevated plateaus, as in the hiUy portions
of Saurastra and Pahca Mahals and South Gujarat, extremes of heat and
cold and the lack of fertile soil make large food-crops impossible; conse-
quently, such districts have but a sparse and scattered population. River-
valleys or plains that have, in the course of ages, been formed by the
constant action of rain and streams, washing down the finer soil from
higher regions, are generally the most fertile, and therefore, also the best
populated, as also other parts of the province, where richness of soil, and
abundant rainfall is heaviest in the southernmost district, diminishing
as the monsoon-current travels northwards from the south, and a warm
and temperate climate encourages a rapid growth of vegetation.

The composition of air and the amount of moisture in a region is an
important climatic factor ; because excessive dry heat is an enemy alike to
vegetation and to population. Mountain races are hardier than dwellers in
the plains. Moist heat is good for vegetation, but dry heat is healthier for
man, producmg, as in Saura^t^a and Kaccha a sturdy, active, and prolific race.
A 5th-century writer on climatology, however, has it that heat makes for
indolence, slavery and polygamy, while damp cold has an entirely opposite
effect.

Dwellers in valleys where the air is moist and oppressive, the wind
hot and the water warm, are fairly well-made, but apt to be stunted, dark
and fleshy.™ Inhabitants of high-level plains, windy and well-watered, are
big in stature, but usually rather timid and mild of temper, as witness the
dwellers on the main land of Gujarat. But in regions where the soil is bare,
water scanty and the weather given to extremes of heat and cold, we find
hard, well-built, sinewy men and women, alert, energetic and self-assertive,
rather rough, yet artistic, and of a * martial ’ spirit." Such on the whole are
the people of Saurastra, Kaccha, Marwad and Rajaputana. Audacity, love of
adventure, a gay endurance, chivalry that often led to buccaneering, explora-
tion, but too often due to greed : these are the characteristics of the enter-
prismg Saurastrian.

The sea, also, plays a great part in the history of man’s evolution. A
rock-bound and surf-beaten coast has bred, in. the Indian mind, such a distaste

53. Compare : the description of wealthy and fleshy Vaisyas ‘ *

etc. given by Sodh^hal, a poet of Lata in the 11th century, in his “Vdaya-
aundan-katha”. (G. O. Series XI, p. 20).

54. In the former times, climatic and planetary influences used to be confused
together, as is shown by the terms “Saturnine”, “Jovial”, “Mercurial”, “Martial"
etc., applied to temperaments.

THE GEOGRAPHICAL FACTOR ; TERRITORY AND CUMATE

33

for maritime activity, that Brahmanism actually laid a curse upon the ocean.
India has been mostly exploited from without. There are records, however,
which go to show that there were notable exceptions to this general rule;
that Indians carried on an extensive sea-borne trade with Persia, Babylonia,
Phoenicia and other countries, and that the Malaya Islands, Siam, Indo-China
etc., were colonised by Indian mariners in ancient times. The colonisation of
Siam and Java by enterprising Gujaratis will be dealt with in a subsequent
chapter.'^

In history the highlander is of a special interest by himself. It has
happened in history that mountaineers were never great conquerors; and
though they could defend their eyries with the bravery of disturbed eagles,
if conclusions were forced between them and the plain-men, which happened
more often than not, the hill-men were forced into submission. Hence it was
that Mahmud Begda, the plain-dwelling Sultan of Ahmedabad succeeded in
subduing the strong and stubbornly heroic kings of Campaner, Idar and
Junagadh. It is surprising that inspite of his native sturdiness, energy and
courage, the mountaineer, with the exception, perhaps, of the Swiss, has
been less of a world-influence in politics than the plain-dweller. The ancient
dynastic seats of the rulers of Gujarat and Sauras^ra were all on the high
plains or on mountain sides. Moreover, the mountaineer naturally tends to
predatoriness (the Kathls, the Kolis, and the Marathas arc instances in point)
on the plain-dweller, but can seldom hold his own against them for long,
being always outnumbered by them.

The plains of Gujarat, with their rather enervating climate, induce
lassitude, while the fertility of the land precludes all nece.ssity for strenuous
labour, thus encouraging a mental lethargy and an easy-going .slackness,

55. See, Dr. R. K. Mukerji’s History oj Indian Shipping, p. 192.

Chapter 2

THE GENETIC FACTOR : RACE AND CASTE

1. Race

T he physical life and growth of a society depend on two factors : race
and locality. A race is, as it were, a “social organism”, or a part of
such organism. The locality is the physical environment in which this
organism seeks development. The universe reserves no place for man : he
has to make a place in it for himself. How he does this depends on the
general character of the particular type to which he belongs— in other words,
his “race”. The word “race” is applied to a large group of people who have
the same general characteristics, physical, mental and spiritual, and are pos-
sessed of certain peculiarities which distinguish them from other such
groups.

Many racial groups are to be found within the borders of Gujarat. The
basic people are Dravidians, who have been living in the country for untold
ages, and who developed their physical characteristics locally. Successive
hordes of Aryan, Scythian, Hunas, Mongol, Pathan and Mughal invaders
came down from the north-west and their descendants are still to be found
here, either pure in strain, or mixed with each other or with the Dravidians.

The Aryans, so far as we are aware, were the first to come. They
poured in from the North, and either conquered the original inlmbitants and
converted them to their own religion (as was done with mediaeval Rolls or
else drove them forth like the main body of the Bhils) from their homes in
the plains to the surrounding hills and forests, whose very barrenness and
inaccessibility ensured security from further persecution.

They are still to be found in their primitive condition along the
East Gujarat forest and hill-frontier, as also. in the rugged Mahikantha —
where the Panch-Mahals stretch into the Malwa uplands— where they were
driven by the conquering northern settlers. They are the “Kali-Paraj”, a
name generally applied to the early tribes, including the aboriginal, in Guja-
rat. Above the “Kali-Paraj”, are the Rolls, who come between the “Kali-
Paraj” and the rest of the population, which is called, “Ojall Varpa”, or
“bright-coloured”. They are half-Bhil, half-Hindu, and have, in some parts
of the country, intermingled with the “Djall Var^a”. Of these, the largest

THS CBNBTIC FACTOR ; RACE AND CASTE

3S

and most respectable division is still called Talapada (Sanskrit
or soil'born, corresponding to the "Nisadas” of the Rimayapa. The earliest
traditional rulers of Gujarat were Bhils or Kolis, namely, Asha Bhil, the
founder of Asaval — Ashapalli— the oldest site of the modern city of
Ahmedabad— and Apahil, the local Bharavad or shepherd-chief, who helped
Vanaraja to found the city of the same name.

The appearance, food, dress, religion and customs of the early tribes
have been but little affected by the Aryan stock. They believe in sorcery
and witch-craft, worship the tiger-god, discarding Brahmanical gods and
customs, and allow polygamy and widow re-marriage. Above the Kolis,
again, lie the “Ojali Varpa”, preserving broadly the Brahmapa, Ksatriya and
Vaisya divisions of the ancient Smrti Law-books, and hence supposed to re-
present the Aryans. These Brahmapa, Vapia, Rajput, KapabI, Bard and
craft-man classes worship Brahmanical gods, and follow Brahmanical
customs and rituals. But in spiritual matters they manifest leanings to-
wards a worship of the elements, trees and animals, nor are they free from a
belief in demonology, sorcery, and witch-craft. Add to this the incorpora-
tion of many aboriginal customs and we get a fair idea of the inner life of
the members of the tJjali Varpa.

The early Aryan settlements in Gujarat appear to have been chiefly
along the coast, at Dwarka, Somanath Patan, Kodinar or Mula-Dwarka,
Broach and Bitrparaka or Sopara. The oldest Pauranic legend concerning
settlement in Gujarat is, in brief, that Raivata, the grandson of King Anarta,
succeeded to the kingdom of Anarta, lost it, and fled. After a while he
returned, and gave his daughter Revat! in marriage to Balarama. The
Yadavas under Krspa, meanwhile, left their old capital Mathura" for
various reasons, and settled in Dwarka, the capital of Anarta, defeating the
‘demons’ (Asuras) who held the surrounding country. In the wake of divine
personages and holy seers, who were supposed to have purified the Dasyu-
polluted country by their godly presence and austerities, appear to have
followed wave after wave of Aryan settlers from the Punjab by way of

Prof. K. H. Dhruva. derives the word from a reduplication of two

synonymous words : and H?.

“Before Alexander arrived, the community of the State of the Phtala in the
delta of the Indus had migrated to avoid submission. This preference for
migration to submission was a settled practi 9 e amongst smaller Indian republics.
The Vrspis, according to the Jatakas and the Mahabhirata, left Mathura and
went to DwSrka when pressed by Jarasandha. The movements of the 6ibis
from the Punjab to R&jputan&, and of the Mfilavas from the Punjab to MalwS
were probably results of similar circumstances. K. P. Jayaswal’s Hindu Polity,
Part 1, p. 77.

36

CULTURAL HISTORY OF GUJARAT

Rajputana and the Aravalli-passes; these form a large majority of the tribes
and castes of the modem Gujarat. In later times, another wave came from
Bengal and the North-West by the Malwa-Dohad route, and also by a third
route through the Cumval-Viramgam territory; these routes are best in-
dicated by the temples of the three tutelary and most-worshipped God-
desses of Gujarat on their outskirts : Amba Bhavani, at Mount Abu on the
Aravalli route : KIdika, on Pavagadh hill on the Malwa-Dohad route, and
Bahucara, guarding the Cumval-Viramgam route.

Besides the Aryans, who came by land, a large number of foreigners
— Persians, Arabs and Africans— came by sea, mostly through the ports of
Saurastra, for purposes of shelter, trade and conquest; and during the
centuries before and after the Christian era, hordes of Central Asian Kusapas,
Hunas, and other tribes came to swell their numbers. These foreigners
settled in the province, and became so mixed up with the Aryans that the
Hindu Dharmasdstras considered it as a “Mleckha" country. The Maha-
bharata (Anufdsana Parva) mentions the Latas, a Ksatriya tribe which had
been outcaste through seeing no Brahmins, and as being no better than
the thieving Bahikas and the robber Surastras.

The Dharmasastra text’ where the Yavanas are placed to the West
of Bharatavarsa, runs as follows : — “He who goes to Ahga, Vaiiga, Kalihga,
Sura^tra or Magadha, unless it be for pilgrimage, deserves to go through a
fresh purification.” Also, the fact that Asoka (B.C. 230) chose a Yavan Thera
named Dhamma-rakkhito to act as Buddhist Missionary for the Western Sea-
board,’ indicates a preponderance of the foreign element in these parts. One
of the foreign (and not necessarily non- Aryan) tribes known as ' Gurjaras,
passing into India from the North-West, gradually spread as far south as
Gujarat. This foreign element has permeated the Rajaput and Kanabi popu-
lation; and infusion of foreign blood has taken place in all the Aryan classes
in Gujarat. The foreigners were either absorbed by the existing castes, or
formed new castes of their own.’

The once holy land of Gujarat thus became a land of strangers; but
it regained its ancient honour with the gradual absorpti<on of the stranger
in the Hindu population between the fifth and the thirteenth centuries.
Buddhism was the first to draw these foreigners into its fold; it succeeded
in converting the Yavanas, Pahlavas, Sakas, Kulanas and Kedaras, who
conquered Western India from about B. C. 250 to 400 A. D. The Jainas,

3. ViJ9U Purd‘i!4t, II. 37.

4. See, History of Mediaeval Hindu India, Vol. I, p. 76, by C. V. Vaidya.

5. See, Bombay Gazetteer, Vol. IX, I, xii. Also see, the History of the Gurjara-Prati-
hdras, Dr. Baij Nath Puri (1960),

THE GENETIC FACTOR : RACE AND CASTE

37

also, like the Buddhists, had no objection to admitting foreigners to the
highest places in their commimity. The next stage in the vast asgim i jat ion
began with the fifth century, when the various sections of the white HQnas,
such as the Gurjaras, Mihiras, etc., and, in the sixth and seventh centuries,
the immigrant * Turk ’ in tribes aided the Brahmins to regain their long-lost
ascendancy over Buddhism. They were rewarded, not only by being admit-
ted to the highest positions and honours amongst Brahmanic Hindus, but,
by marriage and adoption, were actually incorporated into the fabric of
Brahmanic society.

The Brahmins had other ways besides this, of increasing their num-
bers, as, for instance, the practice of indiscriminate procreation among
ascetic Brahmins.' Also, it is known that the Saka or Parthian Nahapana
(150 A. D.) had presented women of his palace, probably Greek girls, to
Brahmins as wives.' As late as 950 A. D., Ihn Khurdadbd states that
Brahmapas t<|pk the daughters of Ksatriyas in marriage; but Alber&pi
(1030 A. D.) says that in his time Brahmins never married out of their own
caste."

The great influx of strangers during the centuries just after Christ
affected the position of Brahmins in many ways. The priests among the new-
comers, also physicians, were accepted as Brahmins, because of their astro-
logical and medical skill. During the Scythian ascendancy (B. C. 100 to
700 A. D.) the priests and magicians of the conquering peoples were accepted
as Brahmins, and thereafter introduced certain new elements into the wor-
ship of the Sun, Siva and Sakti.’ Kalhapa (1148 A. D,), the author of
Adjatarangipf, himself a Saiva Brfthmin, speaks of the priests of Nfigas as
Brihmins, and of Astika, a leading NIga Chief as the best of Brihmlns.
Two well-known instances of outsiders who were accepted as Brihmins are
the priests of the Bihikas, apparently the Sakas of the second or first cen-
tury B. C., and the priests of the Mihiras or White Htipas in the late fifth and
the sixth centuries, A. D." The Anavib of South Gujarat are a different
type of Brahmins. Once connected with the Scythian invaders, they came

6. See Megaathenes, (B. C. 300).

7. Bombay Gazetteer, Vol. IX.

8. The divisions into (full), WF (half), and or (quarter) marks,

according to the writer in the Rdjaputdnd Gazetteer (Vol. I, p. 71), the proportion
of the intermixture of the Brahmins, BanilLs and the lower classes with the
Rajaput foreigners in Gujarat. (one-eighth) group is also known.

9. Vide, Bombay Gazetteer, Vol. IX, Appendix A, p. 438.

10. These ‘Mihira* Brahmins or later Magis or Persian priests seem to have started
either the worship of the Sun and 6iva combined, or a simple Sun-worship, as
at Mult&n, Dwarka and Somanath.

38

CULTURAL HISTORY OP GUJARAT

from local non-Brahmin classes who were chosen by the northern invaders
to be their teachers and priests." Again, the northern new-comers took
large numbers of Brahmins along with them in their wanderings.”^
In the tenth century Mularaja invited thousands of Brahmins, mostly from
the north (Udichi) and made them settle in Gujarat, giving them villages as
gifts.” Inscriptions show that foreigners of ordinary social status were also
accepted as Hindus.^

Siddharaja Jayasiihha (1094-1143 A. D.) conquered (in 1140)
the Bhuta or demon Barbara, the leader of the Mlecchas or foreigners”"
who served the Gujarat king like any other Rajaput vassal. His followers
were forcibly converted to Hinduism; and intermingling of these various
peoples created the Barbaria element in the Kathi tribes of South-East
Saurastra. Fifty years later (1178 A. D.), the surrender of the bulk of
Shahbuddin Ghori’s army in the ravines of Abu gave the Gujarat king
Mularaja 11*" (1177-79 A. D.) a rare opportunity of convertijig Musalmans
to Hinduism.*'

The Mahomedans who forced their way into Gujarat came to conquer,
not to settle. They retained their alien ways and alien religion, keeping
aloof from the Hindus, going their own ways in all things. They had no
desire to colonise, like the early Aryans, nor did they seek a quiet retreat
like the Parsis in Gujarat or the Bene Israels in the South. They attempted
to replace the image-worship and polytheism of the Hindus by the austere
and uncompromising mono-theism of Islam. Everywhere the conquering
Musalman came to grips with the meek but tenacious Hindu, deep-rooted
in the soil, conquering his conquerors by, so to speak, absorbing them
wholesale.

11. For the myth about Anaval Brahmins of Southern Gujarat, see, Baroda Gazet-
teer, Vol. I, p. 173.

12. The sister of Jayadratha is said to have brought 50.000 Brahmins to teach
Hinduism to the Jatas and Me^s of Sindh.

13. Notes on Rdsa-Mdld by D. B. Prof. K. H. Dhruva, published, Buddhi-prakdsa,
November, 1927.

14. Rudradaman’s Pahlava Engineer (150 A. D.) at Junagadh has a Sanskritised
personal name, Suvisakha, while his father’s name, Kulaipa, is foreign.

15. Which is why a copper-plate of Saihvat 1066 calls him ‘Barboraka-Ji?tiu\

16. Bombay Gazetteer, Vol. VIII (K&thiawad) takes note of this event with some
difference in details (p. 192). For detailed description of another conversion as
given by the author of Mirdt-i-Ahmadi, see the paper by D. B. K. M. Jhaveri on

9th Gujarati Sahitya Parishad, published in ^

Monthly, January 1929.

17. See, Ratjehhodji Diwan’s Tdrikh-i-Sorafh and Bay ley’s Gujardf, page 35, Note.

THE GENETIC FACTOR : RACE AND CASTE

39

From the middle of the seventh to the end of the eighteenth century
foreign Musalmans continued to percolate into Gujarat. First came the
Arabs, the sailors and soldiers of the Bagdad fleets sent in the seventh, eighth
and ninth centuries to plunder and conquer the Gujarat coasts. Next came
traders, mostly from the Persian Gulf, during the ninth and tenth centuries,
and settled in considerable numbers in the chief cities of Gujarat, where
they were welcomed by the Rajaput kings of Anahilwad, shown great
consideration, allowed to manage their own affairs, and to practise their
religion and build mosques.*® They were followed from the north, by
Mahmud Gaznavi (1025 A,D.) and Kutub-uddin Aibak (1094 A. D.) in the
11th and 12th centuries. They all came, but none settled in Gujarat until
its final conquest by Alaf Khan in 1297 A. D.*®

From the end of the thirteenth to the end of the seventeenth century,
foreign Musalman adventurers in search of military service,® traders,
refugees and slaves came pouring into Gujarat both by land and by sea^
from Central Asia, Persia and Khurasan, and many foreign Musalman
families used to settle in Gujarat on their return from the holy pilgrimage.”

The arrival from Yaman in Arabia, of the religious head of the Shiah
trading Bohras towards the close of the 11th century; the establishment of
the Sidls of Janjira at Surat as admirals of the Mughal fleet about the middle
of the 17th century; and the influx of Arab mercenaries and of several bands
of Persian political refugees during the 18th century, also added considera-
bly to the Muslim population of the province. The Arab mercenaries were
the most unruly; in fact, they were the only obstacle to the complete estab-
lishment of British influence in Gujarat in 1802 A. D. Their defeat at Baroda
(1802, December 26th) brought their power to an end. Thereafter having
settled down to peaceful pursuits, they, were absorbed in the general fold
of the Muslims.

18. Siddharaja (1094-1143 A.D.) actually set up an inquiry regarding a reported
attack on some Musalman traders in Cambay, punished the Hindus, and gave
the Musalmans money enough to build a new mosque.

19. (1300 A. D.) Vide Prof. Diskalkar's article in Buddhiprakdsa (1926): published,
8th Gujarati Literary Conference Report, held in Bombay (1926) at pages
549, 554.

20. In 1531 A. D. Sultan Bahadur had Turks and Abyssinians in his army (Bird’s
Gujarat p. 272), and Habshis and Afghans were among the Gujarat troops
that opposed Emperor Akbar in 1572 A. D. The Cavalry, according to Barbosa,
which visited Gujarat in 1514 A. D consiste'd of Turks, Mameluke.s, Arabs, Per-
sians, Khurasanis, and Turkomans; others came from Delhi and some belonged
to Gujarat. Most of these came single, and were absorbed into the Musalman
population.

21. See, Mirdt-i-Ahmadi, re : Sheikh Ahmed Khattu of Sarkhez.

40

CULTURAL HISTORY OF GUJARAT

Over and above the political and commercial interests that attracted
these foreigners to Gujarat, was their missionary zeal, death being some*
times offered by them as the only alternative to the acceptance of Islm;
while sometimes persuasion on their part and motives of self-interest on the
part of the Hindus did the business. In short, the Muslims came to Gujarat,
and came to stay."

The other immigrants who first found a home in Gujarat and in the
North Kohkan were the Parsis. They are believed to have arrived about
the end of the 8th century. They landed first at Div, then at Cambay, and
subsequently near Sanjan, to the north of modern Daman in 936 A. D.
The Parsis made a judicious compromise, retaining their own religion, and
accepting the external customs of the Hindus; so there arose no occasion for
a conflict. (Hodivala, Studies in Pdrsi History, 1920, p. 74)

II. Caste

The institution of caste (a word originally derived by the Portuguese
from the Latin castus or purity of blood) is a peculiar feature of the
Indian social organisation; and “Gujarat is pre-eminently a land of sub-
castes’’.” In no part of India are the sub-divisions of communities so minute,
either in theory or in practice.

The history of the development of the caste system in India, in brief,
would be like this : the race being the same, caste, in ancient times among
the Aryans, had an occupational significance. Hence Brahmins often mar-
ried K?atrlya wives, and in the earliest times their progeny was treated as
belonging to the Brihmin caste. By degrees, however, caste rules became
more rigid, and the offspring of such unions was treated as being intermediate
between Brihmlns and K$atriyas. Later on, during the 6th century A. D.,
the progeny followed the caste of the mother. Lastly, from about the eighth
or ninth century onwards, marriage was restricted to the same caste only.

According to early Smrtis, a Brahmin could marry the daughter of a
Ksatriya, and a Ksatriya the daughter of a Vaisya. Formerly, according to
Manu Smrti, Brahmins could marry Ksatriya, Vaisya and Sudra wives; but
in the ninth and tenth centuries, the marriage of a Sudra woman with a Brah-
min, or, indeed, with any one belonging to the higher castes, was prohibited,
as Vyasa Smrti lays down about that period g

22. Abdullah (founder of sect of the Shiah Bohras in Gujarat), Khwaja Moinuddin
Cishti, Saiyad Mahammad Jaunpuri, are some of the most notable Muslim
Missionaries.

23. Bombay Gazetteer, Vol. IX, Part I, p. xii.

THE OENETIC FACTOR : RACE AND CASTE

41

Another rule laid down by the above Smrti text made it compulsory for
a Brahmin first to marry a woman from his own caste; and then to marry
a lower caste woman." The Brahmins married K$atriya wives as late as the
tenth century A. D.*‘ Such marriages were feasible, it must be borne in
mind, because the food of the three higher classes was still the same.

As with marriages, so with occupations. The Brahmins were at liberty
to take to the occupations of the lower castes in addition to their own
peculiar profession, viz. of priestly duties and learning" in which they were
still paramount. They were mostly soldiers and Government officers. The
K^atriyas were usually proficient in warfare, but there were some Ksatriyas
who were devoted to letters also. The Rajaputs of those days, both king and
commoner, were usually men of education, men who knew the Vedic Man-
tras and had learned the Sastras, like the Valabhi kings of Eastern Saura^tra.”

It was probably after the ninth century that the first two higher classes
took to agriculture. Whereas in mediaeval times, only Vaisyas were agricul-
turists, they now ceased to be so altogether; and the Brahmins and Ksatriyas
took to agriculture along with the Sudras, who now were the principal culti-
vators." According to Buddhist, Jaina and Hindu sentiment, agriculture
is sinful, because it involves the destruction of insect-life. The Vaisyas,
becoming Buddhist, abstained from the profession altogether, and left it to
the Sudras. When Buddhism was supplanted by Hinduism, the first two
classes, lacking other occupation, stooped to cultivate. They probably found
it difficult to reconcile their new occupation with their religious sentiments;

24. Cf. Verses as quoted by C. V. Vaidya in Meiiatval Hindu India, Vol. 11, p. 179

‘‘ wOTt tf wi

ST ii

wt WRT ^ 5jHW I

25. As witness Rajasekhara, who had married a Cahaman lady, by name Avanti-
sundarl. Vide, Ka^ura-Maiijari, Vol. I, p. 11.

26. See, Elliot I, pp. 6 and 10.

27. “Some Unpublished Valabhi Inscriptions'* (1924) by D. B. Diskalkar, Watson
Museum, Rajkot.

28. The provisions are : —

“I will detail hereafter the work and duty of men in the Kali Age, which is
common and possible to all the four Vardas : The Brahmin who performs the
six duties assigned to him, may also do the work of cultivation; but he should
not yoke a bullock when thirsty, hungry, or tired. He should cultivate half
the day and then bathe and then perform the sacrifices enjoined, with corn
produced by himself in his own field.'*

42

CULTURAL HISTORY OP GUJARAT

but the Pardsara SmTti came to their rescue. A compromise was effected.
The sin of agriculture was admitted; but one could be free from it by
‘ Khala Sacrifice \ i. e., gifts to Brahmins at the barn. The same permission
was granted to the Ksatriyas also : “A Ksatriya may also, similarly,, cul-
tivate and worship Gods and Brahmins. So also, a Vaisya and a Sudra may
follow either agriculture, trade or some handicraft.^’ Agriculture thus
became permissible for all the four Varnas, and the Ksatriyas came to be
split up into two classes, the Rajaputs, i. e., the Kings and Rulers, and
ordinary Cultivators and Landholders.®

As with agriculture, so with the profession of arms. The Brahmins
and the Vaisyas were, under liberal Law-givers, allowed to share that voca-
tion with the Ksatriyas. Manu had laid down that Dvijas may use arms
only to defend religion;® but Vasistha went fiurther, and permitted them
to take up arms in self-defence also.” So also, Brahmins were allowed by
Smrti law to take to trade, when in adversity; but they were not to sell
certain things. It appears that caste was not made into dead convention :
but was a guiding force in society, with elastic rules to deal with changing
occupations, which were not held to be hereditary, and hence were “transfer-
able”.

In the next two centuries there arose another cause for the division of
Hindu society into semi-castes, and sub-semi-castes : namely, the question
of food and interdining among the various castes. Not only were the
Brahmins total abstainers from all intoxicating liquors, but even the Ksatri-
yas likewise, especially their kings were so."“ Secondly, abstention from
flesh was gradually gaining ground all over the country. Brahmins generally
abstained from eating flesh, although there were, and still are, exceptions to
these rules, as, for instance, some of the Northern and Bengali Brahmin sub-
castes. As a rule, however, there was a general prohibition to kill or to eat
flesh, which extended to even the Ksatriyas and the Vaisyas.

The Candalas alone did not observe this prohibition, and became out-
castes. They were compelled to live outside the towms and villages; and,
while walking in town-streets, were to be careful, not only not to touch the

29. See, Ibn Khurdadba (950 A. D.;.

30. ‘ wr i ’

31. 1 i ii’

32. A1 Masudi writes: “The Hindus abstain from drinking wine, and censure
those who consume it. If it can be proved that he has drunk wine, he forfeits
the crown, for he is not considered able to rule as his mind is affected.”

— Elliot, I, p. 20.

THE GENETIC FACTOR ; RACE AND CASTE

43

other Hindus, but not even to throw their shadows upon them. The treat-
ment of these out-castes was in accordance with the Hindu sentiment; but the
Muslims, whose religion did not prohibit them from eating flesh, had no such
objection, and they gladly took these “untouchables’’ into the fold of Islam.
This estranged the Hindu mind from the Muslim foreigners from the very
time that they first set foot in Gujarat. Barriers were set up and caste-
distinction became more rigid than ever.*’

As regards interdining, the various castes had no objection to eating
with one another and the privilege was extended even to some of the higher
grades of the Sudra population."”

This wholesome and unifying inter-dining among the various castes
was possible only because food of the people was still the same. Things,
however, changed completely during the next two centuries owing to the re-
crudescence of the doctrine of Ahirhsd, especially in Gujarat under the
teachings of Hemacarya; and many castes gave up non-vegetarian food.

The Brahmins even until 1075 A. D. were distinguished by their Gotras
and Sdkhds only, as is clear from the Dhamdachha grant of Durlabharaja/'
Later on, however, we begin to find mention of the Brahmins’ place of
residence also. (Kumarapala’s ‘ Prasasti ’ at Vadnagar mentions the writer
as a ^Ndgara Brdhrnana^ in Samvat 1206, 1151 A. D.). Names of places of
residence gradually became more important than Gotras and Sakhas
for the Brahmins.’^ Along with Gotras, family surnames also began to be
mentioned, and, later on, sub-caste names based on places of residence.
Thus surnames now had their origin either in professions or in places of
residence or other peculiarities, and the importance of Sakha or Pravara was
lost sight of, though all Brahmins remember them to this day.

33. Cf. A1 Beruol’s book on ‘India’ (1030 A. D.); Sachau (I), p. 99: — “The Hindu.s
have institution of castes with sub-division distinct from each other, like
the species within a genus. Wc, Muslims, consider all men equal except
in piety, and this is an obstacle which prevents understanding between us and
the Hindu.”

34. Vydsa Smrti, especially allowed this practice. The only condition was that one
must know the family with whom one cats to be a Dwija family (the family, by
the way iqcluding barbers, friends of the family, co-parccncrs, servants, and
cowherds !).

35. In the two Dhamdaccha grants by Durlabharaja Solahki in Navsari district

(Saka 996, Saihvat 1131, 1075 A, D.) edited b^ G. V. Acarya, the Brahmin i.s
described as I ’’ J. B. B. R. A. 5.,

Vol. XXVI.

36. In 'an Inscription of Bhola Bhima of Gujarat, dated Saihvat 1256, 7nd. Ant. XI,
p. 72, the Brahmin donee is described by name only, and by his Raikavala
J§ti, or sub-section of the Brahmin caste.

44

CULTURAL HISTORY OF GUJARAT

The two main modern sections of Panca Cau^a and Panca
Dravida, however, had not still come into existence. This main division
arose even later than 1200 A. D., and was due to the meat-eating, of the
former and the vegetarianism of the latter. We find it recorded in the
‘Nagara Khandia' of the Skanda Purdna (Circa 900 A. D.) where the whole
history of Nagara Brahmins and their special God Hatakesvara Siva is given:
that an unknown Brahmin came to their town and a Nagara Brahmin gave
him his daughter in marriage; he was subsequently discovered to be a
Candala, to the great consternation of the community; and the Nagaras, there-
upon made it a rule not to give their daughters in marriage to any but to
the known Nagara-Brahmins; and the known Nagara Brahmin families were
enumerated. This arrangement seems gradually to have been adopted by
all castes; and sub-castes came consequently to be called “Jnati” or
‘ known sections This story may be an interpolation and a later invention,
but it shows why marriage-relations were generally restricted to people of
known pedigree residing in the same country.

Another circumstance which encouraged the formation of sub-castes
was the migration of Brahmin families to Southern or Eastern countries,
either on their own initiative or in answer to invitation.® These Brahmins
formed separate sub-castes, being unwilling to mix with local Brahmins, whom
they considered inferior to themselves in purity, both of diet and of blood.
The settlement of certain sub-castes in Siddhapur at the invitation of Mula-
raja has procured for them a higher social status than that of other sub-
oastes, and not only the Siddhapuria Audica Brahmins, but also the Siddha-
puria Ghancis rank the highest among their respective sub-castes.

Next to immigration, migration of the. different castes led to sub-
divisions in accordance with their change of domicile. The stem castes of
Gujarat took their names either from sacred spots, such as Modhera, Siddha-
pur, Vadnagar, Girnar, etc., or from important local centres, such as (Lata)
Broach, Nandod, Anaval, Srimala, Osia, Kheda, etc. Famines, invasions,
territorial or dynastic changes, pressure and emigration, have led to new

37. In the Abu Inscription (Saihvat 1331, or 1274 A. D.), we have the word

actually used by the writer to describe his caste or sub-section.

Cf. the Prasastis, of and (Chitor) which were composed by a

Brahmin belonging to this higher caste.

‘HarsolGrants’of Sarhvat 1005 (949 A.D.) mention the donee Laliopadhyaya
as son of Govardhana, a Nagara of Gopali Gotra with three Pravaras, from
Anandapura. This is perhaps the earliest reference of the Nagara Anandapur
— Vide Report, III Oriental Conference, Madras, (1924), p. 194-

38. For a detailed account of these Brahmin immigrants, see, Rdaa-Mald, Vol. I,
pp. 63-64.

TliE GENETIC FACTOR ; RACE AND CASTE

45

settlements, chiefly southwards. In many cases, Brahmins, Valias, and
many Son! and GhancI craftsmen, rejoice in a common name derived from
their original common home. Subsequently, wherever the off-shoot of the
stem-caste settled, it formed a new sub-division, the parent-caste sometimes
dining but never intermarrying, with its new offspring. Several of the immi-
grants have preserved in their caste-designations the names of their origi-
nal non-Gujarat homes, such as Jhalora, Mewada, Saraswata, Sachora,
Srlmali, Sri Gauda etc.

The mode adopted by Nagara Brahmins to define their sub-castes, i. e.,
classifying them according to their Gotras, was followed by various sub-
sections and hence have arisen those hundreds of exclusive sub-castes into
which the Brahmins are now divided, with their rigid rules regarding inter-
dining and inter-marriage. All these sub-sections acquired new names from
the country or town of their residence, or from other causes, which, because
of the restrictions of marriage within the bonds of each particular sub-section,
became of far greater importance than Gotras and Sakha. However, the im-
portance of Gotra is not destroyed, as one might well be led to think; the Gotra
marriage is still the supreme law of marriage amongst Brahmins. There
is, also, an intermediate sub-section of Gujarat Brahmins, called Barads
(Sanskrt 4Hl ) which is composed of those who, failing to secure wives,
in their own communities, or because of some breach of other caste-rules,
married girls from other Brahmin divisions, and have, therefore, ceased to
belong to their original caste.

The caste of Ksatriyas which comes next in importance, did not divide
itself into numerous sub-sects, as it could not do so on the basis of town
or country of residence. It had already divided itself into two main
sections, viz., those who cultivated and those who did not. The former
were naturally considered lower in grade than the latter who, when they
were not kings, were at least never less than heads of villages
or districts (?I®n-3I^) or lordlings. These now came to be called “Rajaputs”
— a word used in inscriptions of this period to denote the ruling Ksatriyas
generally,** and giving rise to the old Gujarati word or

from the thirty-six prominent traditional K^triya families. The

Calukya and Vaghel branches, which ruled Gujarat upto the end of the
thirteenth century, did not rank high among these thirty-six families,
53 , although there was intermarriage between these families and
themselves.

39. Vide, Epigraphia Indica, Vol. XIV, p. 1591, BallSlasena’s inscription ^
quoted by C. V. Vaidya in History of Mediaeval Hindu India, Vol. Ill, p. 383.

46

CULTURAL HISTORY OF GUJARAt

We have, further, uncontested evidence that two princesses from the
Kadarhba family of Goa (not mentioned among the thirty-six) were married
into the Gujarat Calukya family " It is possible, however, that the Rajaputs
of Northern India gradually confined their sub-castes to Northern India, and
refused to continue marriage-relations with the K^atrtya families of
Maharastra (as witness Karna Vaghela’s refusal to give Devaldevi to the
Yadava prince of Devagiri, in about 1295 A. D.)

The dominating Jaina tenderness towards life and dislike for stimu-
lants, to which Gujarat Brahmanism had to conform, placed the flesh-eating,
liquor-drinking Rajaput below the trader Vaisya in later times; and in the
phrase ‘‘Brahmin-vania^*, raised the scrupulous temple-building trader to
form, with the Brahmins, the highest Hindu community in Gujarat. Raja-
puts, as Ksatriyas, should rank next to Brahmins; similarly, since their con-
version to Vaisnavism about the close of the fifteenth century, when they
turned strict vegetarians and avoided liquors, the Bhatias, originally Bhatti
or Yadava Rajaputs, have risen to a place almost next to the Brahmins.

The Vaisyas, also, like the Brahmins, split up into subdivisions during
this time, on the basis of habitat; but it is not certain when they came to be
divided into the modern 84 sub-divisions. A reference in Vinayacandra’s
Kdvya-sifcsd to 84 Desas from which the people took their names, accounts
for the 84 kinds of Brahmins and Vaisyas. The Sanskrt corroborates

this view/’

There are some family names met with in inscriptions, such as Trag-
vatanvaya’, Madhavanvaya,^* but the Vaisyas were often Jainas, which is why,
perhaps, the sub-sections were not endogamou^. Muni Lavanyasamaya has
given the traditional origin of Oswal, Porwad, and Srimali Banias in his

40. mentions such marriage in the verse

1 mK i

It also mentions Karla’s marriage with a Kasmir princess : —

I ’ (Vaidya, /bid., Vol. Ill, p. 385).

41. Vide ‘ftw

As the K?atriyas have the prominent ‘*kul£is” or“vamsas” so the Brahmin
and other classes have as the in this Kali Age — so writes the

author of ‘ ^ in Samvat 1448, and then he enumerates

the 84 castes. This list is older than that given in
spf?'? by almost a century, and is worth a perusal. 84 sub-sections among
Vaisyas are mentioned in Mirdt-i^Ahmadl Supplement published in Prdchut
Gurjara Kdvya Sangraha (G, O. series. No. XIII), p. 125.

42. Indian Antiquary, XI, page 72.

TH2 GENETIC FACTOR : RACE AND CASTE

47

VimaUi Prahandha (Samvat 1568), a poem in Old Gujarati.® Those who
inhabited or populated the salt tract of Osia were called Oswal (or Uswal).®
and those who dwelt on eastern side of iSrImalanagar came to be known
as Pragwat or Porwad.® The chief caste, however, was that of the Srlmalis,
which gave rise to several other sub-sections.® The Prabandhakara also
enumerates the 84 sections of the Vaisyas, thus supplying us with a fairly
complete list of the Vaisya sub-castes extant in the sixteenth century A. D."

His description of the ‘ Adhara Varpa ’ or the eighteen classes of the
Hindu society, a term which appears to have come in vogue about the 15th
century, is also most valuable. After giving the conventional four Varpas,
with their respective callings from the Vedic and the Smrti period
'(because he assigns agriculture to the Vaisyas — — and
menial work to Sudras), he goes on to mention two groups of artisans and
craftsmen, called the nine “Narus’’ and the five “Karus”, respectively,*"
together with the original four castes, thus making up a total of eighteen
Varpas. The latter half of the couplet shows that marriage, also, was an
important factor." Here is a description of the duties of a Vaisya and,

43. Mapilil Bakorbhai Vyas’s edition (1914): —

^ sqffK I tRjf® ^ ^ ilTf II
5ITO f® «iNK I m ”

44. Sifq i

II ” m ii, V<(.

45. “ 5PT? «l4!t I Jri»H13r I ” tt.

46. “ thPatiPi 311^ d? fe '1'^ I ^ II ” ^

47. “^i ftnfir I % v.4: JiiBft ii ” ^ v, »,?.

“ 51% firiNs, 51% %4 b, Kti% I

51% 51% !irei3ft ^ sipig i

51 aisRift ^ ^ ^ig II ” m R,

48. ^1^, 1 g5R i

firtgrw m 1 31^ 311^ g®ll #3rR 'i —<>.

rnsr, #n, % 1 ^ s^ia^R i

R %5 39% I 9=3 51% 9 IBPP II — C?

B?, gPR I 31»R: 9^ 8151? II ” ^ V,

49. « 9513911 m? 9sit #ii?ii3n -aR :

95159, 39? 9I"ft, % 5^95%1% *9?. "

“^1^ 99?9 % 811^ 951399, 95Ic*t 9?tft ?P13*t X :

99T #91^ 399 ^ 99, 95941-95391 ^ 9Icfl :

— ?fi% g3R% ■?. '

5

48

CULTURAL HISTORY OF GUJARAt

incidentally, a most interesting side*light on the times of the poet himself :
“The Vaisya, deals in all sorts of business relating to agriculture, is consider-
ed worthy by the learned, has a fair knowledge of trade, and is liberal” —
(Such really, was Vimala Mantri, minister to Bhimadeva Solahki).

The Sudras were sub-divided into innumerable sections not only on
the basis of habitation but also of emplojrment, each profession consolidating
itself into a separate sub-caste, and becoming endogamous, like all the
higher castes and sub-castes from the Brahmins downwards. Certain
craftsmen, who claim descent from some Ksatriya-clan, exploit the
‘Parasurama Myth ’ to accoimt for their later degradation — the Bhavasars,
Golas and Sutars, for instance, who, it is alleged, took to their respective,
callings when Parasurama resolved to destroy them.

Among the untouchables, there were two main divisions, the Sudra
and the Atisiidra as noted by A1 Beruni." The eight untouchables, since the
Smrti period, are the fuller, the shoe-maker, the weaver, the basket-maker,
the rope-dancer, the fisherman, the hunter and the juggler, all of them endo-
gamous as usual. Even the lowest of these refrain scrupulously from inter-
dining or inter-marriage amongst themselves, through fear of defilement or
ex-communication. Because, “ It is necessary to observe ” writes Forbes,
“that even a Dhed is still a Hindu, and superior as such, to a Mleccha, or one
who is not a Hindu.”^” Samaibhatt describes how members of the various
castes are forced to take to lower professions by want or troubles. (The word
‘ ’ is derived from the Sanskrt

50. Sachau, Vol. I, Chapter X.

51. Vide, Rd«a-Mdld, Vol. II, p. 238.

Also, (Saihvat 1478), an Old Gujarati prose-romance, considers the

following tribes to be sinful, and therefore, de.spicable — the Fisherman, the
Drunkard, the Oilman, the Courtesan etc.

v-fi f®, Jft® ii»ii f», I

w,f»i qft qliO, anNt, ^igO, %, >^i, „

iq, f» 3tlf»isit ll” — O. O. Series No. 7, p. 124

52. “ % I sK I

I RWn wl I

w I fiwii-w I

It wi? I *13^ wqt wqt I
•R’n'ft I ql: fw ^>0 i” etc.

— ‘ unnRi»i5ft aral ’

THE OENSnC EACTOB : BACK AND CASTS

49

Almost all the trading classes, and even the depressed classes, from
the Dhe^s downwards, have a section which claims Rajaput descent and hears
Rajaput surnames, although necessity has stripped it of all social prestige. A
steady stream had long flowed from MarwS^ into Gujarat, and besides
forming new castes called after their Muwa^ homes, added a ‘Maru’ section
to many a trade and calling. But this is not all in Gujarat, the three separ*
ating influences of calling, marriage and food are still at work forming new
castes and determining their social status when formed.

Some new castes are formed by those who, ashamed of their low
castes, strive to conceal it when better days come, and assume a name likely
to be better respected. The very first symptom of social stability is a refusal
to give their daughters in marriage to other members of their castes, from
which nevertheless they continue to take wives. After a time, when their
numbers have increased they close their ranks and marry only amongst
themselves, passing for a superior sub-caste of the main caste to which they
belong, and they stand up by severing all former connections, assuming
brand new names, and claiming general recognition as a distinct caste.” As
a rule, all the members of a caste including the sub-castes, eat together,
but marriage is confined within the limits of sub-castes; and restrictions
increase as one descends the social ladder. Brahmins, Vanias, Rajaputs, and
Kunabis cannot give their daughters outside their respective castes or sub-
castes, but they can eat together within the larger circle of their main
castes. But the artisan and depressed classes are more strict with regard
to food and marriage, allowing neither inter-marriage nor even inter-dining
between their sub-castes.

53. See, R.B. GovindbhSI’s Baroda Gatettew, Vol. I, p. 155, rc: 'Kolis'

Chapter 3

THE ECONOMIC FACTOR : POPULATION
AND OCCUPATION

The economic factor, in its influence on national character, is an inter*
mediate phenomenon between the purely material factors of race and climate,
and the political, social, intellectual and spiritual factors of law and govern-
ment, marriage and family, language and literature, beliefs and ideals.

We shall now take a cursory review of the gradual growth of the
population in Gujarit and the main occupations of the Gujaratis. A close
scrutiny of the gradual growth of the population for the several regions,
reveals a highly unequal distribution.

Population : It is difficult to say when the Aryans penetrated into
Gujarat. The first wave of Aryan immigrants in Gujarat, perhaps, consisted of
the Saryatas, a tribe claiming descent from Manu, and the Bhrgus, the martial
priests who traced their descent from the sage Bhrgu.' There is evidence
to show that Aryan tribes called Saurastras, Anartas, Bhrgukacchas,
Aparantas andKonkanas occupied the entire sea-coast from Sindh to Bombay.
Possibly the historic tradition of Bhfgus and Saryatas is based on the folk-
lore of these tribes. The myth runs that the eponymous Saryati and
Cyavana, the Bhfgu, found home in this distant land. A son of the for-
mer, Anarta, gave his name to North Gujarat ; qnd Anartapura (Anandapura,
modern Vadnagar) was one of the earliest centres of Aryan cultures.
Cyavana’s asrama was situated on the bank of the Narmada, possibly near
Rajpipla. The Bhrgus had Bhrgutirthas on the Narmada. The next wave of
immigrants settled in Saurastra, where Haryasva, a Yadava king, founded a
kingdom. Girinagara (Junagadh), Kusasthall and Prabhasa were the earli-
est Aryan settlements in the peninsula.*

In the Mdhahh&rata we find mention of the Yadava colony of Sri
Kf^na in Gujarat. The Skanda Purina, in its Prabhasa-khapda, Nagar
IChaoda and others, introduces Gujarat as Kusavarta— Avarta and its
monarchs— but the province became known as Saurastra later on. At
first it, along with Sindhu, Sauvira, etc., was under a ban, and the Konkap

1. K. M. Munshi : Early Aryan* in Gufardt.

2. See, Markaifieya Pur&ya, 57, 49*52, 58-22.

3. fiarivamia, II, 37 ; 38.

IHB KCONOUIC FACTOlt : POPUIATION AMD OCCVPATtON

51

was wrested by Parasuram, according to the Piir&rias, from the sea . In eatU-
est times, the country was all aranyas (forests), and the valleys of the
Sarasvati, Sabhramati and Mahi were still Arbudaranya. South of it was
Naimi^arai^ya, between the Mahi and the Narmada ; further south was
Dan^akarai^ya, now the Dang forests. There was a Dharmaranya in Anarta,
and a Camparaiiya in Saurastra. There was an Asrama of Vasistha near
Abu, of Kapil near Siddhapur, of Bhrgu on the Narmada, of Markandeya on
the Payo^ni, identified with Tapi, of Udumbara on Mesa (Mesvo) and of
Kapila on Dhadhar near Kavl.

The forests gave place to Ksetras or plantations, and settlements
such as Kumarika Ksetra (Gujarat), Prabhasa Ksetra, Bhrgu Ksetra etc.
Then we come to Avartas, • or circles, as in Brahmavarta, Kusavarta,
Aryavarta and then Desas or countries ; Brahmariu Desa, La(a Desa, etc.
We then come to the regular establishment of political units, — ^provinces
(DeSas) {Man^ala), divisions (Visaya or Patha), cities, towns {Pattana
and Pura) and villages (Grama).

Mere fertility of soil or abundance of rain does not make for density
of population. In Saura^ti^a, for instance, the fertility of a part of the soil
cannot nullify the disadvantages of an uncertain rainfall and an isolated
position. Constant wars, unstable conditions of life and poverty — these were
the main features of the lives and therefore the history, of the people.
Inevitably, then, the population is sparse, both because of natural causes and
the large number of emigrants who seek their fortunes abroad. In the sea-
coast areas, the population is non-agricultural. These tracts have greater
industrial prospects than agricultural, because of the advantages of
a sea-board. Nor does a heavy rainfall help in the forest area of South
Gujarat, whose hard soil and generally unhealthy climate renders it unsuit-
able for settlement. North Gujarat has a salubrious climate but a meagre
population, while Central Gujarat is malarious but densely populated.
Forest regions, again, have a heavy rainfall, but are very meagrely
populated.

If we were t$ make four natural divisions of the province according to
their climate, the order would be (1) North Gujarat, (2) Saura?tra and
Kaccha, (3) Central, and (4) South Gujarat. In regard to natural drainage—
another important factor— the order would be (1) Central, (2) Southern,
(3) Northern Gujarat, and (4) Saurastra with Kaccha.

The trans-Mahi area, which forms what is known as ‘Carotar’,— from
the ancient name of a group of 104 villages — is one of the historic divisions

4. For see Kavyasikfa by Vinayacandra, quoted in Gaekwad

Oriental Series, No. 1.

52

COUrOBAI. BISTOBV OF OCJARAT

of Gujarat, noted for the high fertility of its soil. Carotar has a Gujarat!
dialect of its own, and is the home of the Leva Ka^bis, the agricultiiral
aristocracy of Gujarat. It is here that agriculture is most intensive, and
population thickest.

The bulk of the population in Carotar, Vakal, and KShnam is tsrpi-
cally agricultural. Kahnam soil, which is black, is easily tilled, of great
depth, and containing, as it does, a fair proportion of organic matter, it hardly
requires manure. On the other hand, Gordon, in Carotar, requires careful
cultivation and abundant manure to produce good crops ; but with effort
and proper irrigation, is capable of producing finer crops, and a greater
variety of them than the best of black soil. Tracts like Carotar and Vakal
(which is half-black and half-red soil), offer greater attractions to the settler,
particularly to the superior type of agriculturist, than even the best Kahnam.
Another reason is, that in Carotar, where Goradu requires intensive culti-
vation, a great deal more field-labour is needed per unit of cultivation than
in Kahnam, which, of course, makes it more expensive.

In the Northern Gujarat, ve learn that the crops are thin and stimted,
the fields everywhere interspersed with large patches of incurably barren
Khar land, and the villages mere clusters of miserable hovels built of mud
and straw, more like pigsties and bee-hives than human abodes.' The
Kolis and Musalmans of these barren regions call themselves “Mevasis”,
“turbulent” or “given to plunder”, and have preyed for centuries upon
their richer Kanbi neighbours. Under the settled regime of post-Maratha
days, the Mevasis have been given a privileged tenure, and turned to peace-
ful occupations, which, instead of making them good agriculturists, has only
made them thriftless do-nothings.

To turn to South Gujarat, the Rapi Mahals are notoriously unhealthy,
and their water is full of organic matter, and not fit to drink. The constitu-
tion of the population shows how the ‘ Ujaliat’, or the light-coloured classes,
have given place to the ‘Kali Paraja’, or the dark aborigines, who do not toil
on the soil. A perpetual prey to malaria, it is not surprising that the local
Dhanaka should soak himself in drink. The bulk of the population is agri-
cultural, but the land has deteriorated in the hands of these primitive tribes.

Three distinct elements might be seen' in the population-stock of
Gujarat. There is a very large tribal element dispersed mostly in the high-
lands to the east and south, and in Saurastra. There are besides, certain
large ethnic groups like the Koli, Ta^vi and Vasava Bhils, and Waghers who
occupy an intermediary status between tribal folk and Hindus of the plains.

5. Barods Ceiuut Report, 1921, p. 13.

THE BCONOIOC FACTOR : POPDIATIOM AMD OCCDPATXON

53

In some places they are regarded as very backward and tribal, while in
certain other areas they are very progressive and almost attain the status- of
a Hindu caste. Among the tribes, Bhils are easily the largest. Then there
is a large group of non^tribal population consisting of the non-Hindus such as
the Muslim and Pars! and certain untouchable exterior castes.

Agriculture, the main occupation of the people of Gujarat, allowed
a thicker and more concentrated population. It may be regarded as the
beginning of civilization, involving, as it does, a settled existence, permitting
even town-life and requiring, for the protection of land crops, a certain
amount of political activity. It was most successful when slave-labour
or forced labour was available for regular cultivation of the soil. The episode
of Prthu, a king of Bharatvarfa (in the Bhagavata Purdna) if explained in
terms of ordinary life, marks the advent of civilization in India, when the
earth was first brought under cultivation. He removed the unevenness of the
earth, with the end of his bow (i. e. with a ploughshare), and then milked
the earth, in the form of a cow; and it is this, probably, that gave him the
title to a king’s l/6th share in the produce of the land in order to protect
the fruitful “Cow”. Another such example is Visvamitra, who is said to
have created a new world of his own — perhaps a new settlement, which he
cultivated, and where new crops were first introduced by him.

To give a more recent example from history, Lakho FulapI — who
was defeated and slain by Mularaja Solank! in the tenth century A. D. — is
said to have first imported the grain called Bajrl to Saura^t^^a from a distant
eastern country." In that country, it is said the grain was called Kkad-Dhdnyd!
(coarse grain obtained from grass). This may suggest the date when por-
tions of the interior of Saurastra were first brought under cultivation. In
the temperate zone, food is abundant in summer but scarce in winter.
This has compelled men to cultivate land, to store food, to provide clothing
and shelter for themselves, and to devise means of exchanging commodities,
in other words, to take to agriculture, manufacture and trade, and, if there be
a coast-line, to navigation and commerce.

As early as tAe time of the Mauryan supremacy, Saxira^tnans were
known as a race of agriculturists and of warriors." Says the author of

6. For a detailed narrative, Ratnamala (1903 edition), p. 288.

7. trreft ^ «rpr i

'ri# »nrt II”

“Bravo for your Bajri, which hath long leaves; by eating which horse
sprouted wings, and old men became young.”

8. Vide “ i || ” — Kautiliya Artha-Sfistra, XI.

Also see the Gujarati proverb “3TR %?ft, RWR rWI”.

54

CULTURAL HISTORY OP GUJARAT

Periplus in the early years of the Christian era, “The interior parts of the
Barugaza and Sauras^rene produce abundantly com and rice, the oil of
seasamum. butter, muslins and coarser fabrics, manufactured by the Indians.
It has also numerous herds of cattle.” “

Since four-fifths of the villages live by agriculture, the distress caused
by bad agricultural years is widespread as well as terrible. Famines never
came singly, but were accompanied by want and epidemic which destroyed
thousands. The earliest extant historical reference to such agricultural
calamities in Gujarat is of a famine in the reign of Bhimadeva I (1022-1064
A. D.). When the rains had failed round about Palanpur, the cultivators
were unable to pay the king’s share of produce. They were brought before
King Bhima; but the Prince Mularaja in very pity begged the king to remit
the revenue in lieu of a boon that had been promised him, and the king
consented. The third year after this. Prince Mularaja died. But the next
year being of plenty, these poor but honest cultivators came to pay to the
king his due for the past and the present years. Bhimadeva refused
the arrears : but, to please the cultivators, spent them later on in charity ;
a truly noble episode, reflecting credit alike on the ruler and the ruled.

We also read of a second rigorous famine, in the reign of Visaladeva
Vaghela, the first independent ruler of Gujarat, which was successfully
combated by reason of the magnificent munificence of a philanthropic Jaina
trader, Jagadu, of Mahuva in Saura^tra." This Jagadusha was forewarned
by a Yati, in Samvat 1312, about a great famine, that would last for three
years, and to be known as Pandarotaro (Saihvat 1315): he accordingly
forearmed himself, hoarding huge amount of corn brought from distant
coimtries by his agents. The famine came as severe as had been predicted;
in two years even the royal granary was empty; grain became so scarce that
only thirteen grams could be had for a Dramma" and it was then that Jagadu
began to distribute, freely, the grain he had collected. Later on, he was
requested by the minister of Visaladeva to give a loan of corn to the king
himself; but the brave as well as kind-hearted merchant refused, pointing
out that a copper-plate inscription in his granaries declared that “these

9. Ind. Anti.. VIII, p. 141.

10. For further references to Famines, see :

(1) Malek Gopi’s Proiosti, in Baroda Library Miscellany (1916).

(2) Pethadsha, in Jaina Padavali, ‘Puratattva’, 1924.

(3) A document for purchasing a girl in famine in Lekhapadhhati (Gaek-
wad Oriental Series, No. 19, p. 45)

11. Vide Sarvinanda Suri’s m.

THE ECONOMIC FACTOB : POPULATION AMD OCCUPATIOM

55

grains of corn are collected only for the poor” After many entreaties,
however, he gave 8,000 mu^ds (equal to 3,20,000 maunds) of com to
the king.

The third allusion to a famine, in Sariivat 1661 (1605 A. D.) is foimd
in the historical poem Hiravijaya Suri Rasa, by ^fabhadasa of Cambay,
evidently an eye-witness to the calamity. In this great famine, two brothers
Rajia and Vajia Parikh, philanthropic and wealthy merchants of Cambay,
distributed four thousand maunds of com amongst the poor, and spent twenty-
three lacs of rupees to relieve the famine-stricken people in one year.” This
royal help, coming from merchants, is significant of the wealth of the trading
class.

The terrible Gujarat famine of 1630-32 A. D., called the “first Sitasio”
(Samvat 1687) to distinguish it from the second “Sitasio” a hundred years
later, must be regarded as the severest recorded famine in India, in view of
the detailed information available to us from Persian, English, and Dutch
sources. The draught of 1630 was followed the next year by rains so torren-
tial that they washed away all the crops and flooded the town and villages.
Millions died, first of starvation, and later of the epidemics that followed in
the wake of the famine. The rains of 1631 failed, both in Gujarat and in the
Deccan. The poor were willing to sell their children for a loaf of bread, but
few would buy and many helpless little ones were abandoned.

The Mirat~i-Ahmadl tells us that even those who, in normal times,
used to distribute largesse amongst the poor were now turned into beggars.
The disposal of the dead became a problem, and people feared to go alone or
unarmed.

Accounts of this famine, in the Badshdhn&ma of Abdul Hamid, and by
Dutch factors, as well as in the Journal of the English Factor, Peter Mundy,
have become available.” Proceeding from Surat to Burhanpur, Mimdy found

12 . “ 5P15: sfimrora ft I " — dr. cc.

13. See “Cr^ TRTR, *l4r Wl+K I

ft ^ wr MfJT-gmw, *ir(r % 5 ^r ^ ! 11 ”

(^WRiNfin «?T. m. ft. e, ?. ci)

14. ft« tBKBft stfayWiTg 5 ft I

«rR TOR gor ^ 8 ?RirT, aftRB to 11 ”

Mr. Mr. ft. % 1.

15. Prof. M. S. Commessariat : Bombay University Lectures, October, 1928, reported
in Times of India : Lecture II, ** Sitasio Kdla*\

56

cwbiTDJiAL msTOsy or gujabat

the whole distance of nearly 340 miles converted into a vast charnel house.
Hiere was nothing uncommon in the sight of heaps of dead bodies, 30 or 40
deep, of all ages and sexes, confusedly tumbled together without any cover-
ing. At Nandurbar, Mundy could find camping ground only in the open
spaces between the tombs in the cemetery. Returning from Agra by way of
Ajmer and Rajputana, two and a half years later, Mundy witnessed further
effects of the disaster. The glorious ruins of Rudramala at Siddhpur were
full of the bleached skull dnd bones of those whose bodies had been
dumped therein. At Mehsana were lying heaps of dead men’s bones; even
Ahmedabad, the “Metropolis of Gujarat”, was half ruined and depopulated.
The famine swept away more than a million people in Gujarat, while the
pestilence that followed did no less havoc.

The economic effects of the famine, notes the English factor, on the
staple calico and indigo industries of Gujarat were profound; and the pro-
vince did not recover its pristine condition for nearly a decade. The weavers,
washers, dyers, etc., were either dead or had fied to distant parts. Whereas
before 1630, the Broach weavers supplied the Surat factory with 600 or 1000
pieces of cloth per day (the production of the crude hand-loom workers may
be noted) they could in 1644 supply no more than 20 or 30 pieces. The trade
which was able to supply 3,000 bales of indigo per year was hardly able to
deliver 300.“

Shah Jahan’s Government tried to relieve the famine by opening
soup-kitchens in Ahmedabad, where the imperial camp was stationed; 5,000
rupees were ordered to be distributed among the poor every Monday for
twenty successive weeks. The Viceroy at Ahmedabad was ordered to
spend 50,000 rupees in buying grains from the merchants to distribute
among the needy. Taxes amounting to Rs. 70 lacs were remitted apart from
the remissions made by the Manasabdars on their Jagirs.”

As a side-effect of this “Sitasio Kala”, great disorder was created in
Sorath. In 1635 A.D. the peninsula was a waste, and ceased to yield any
revenue of importance, while it afforded a safe asylum for marauding
Kathls who came over by Ranpur into Gujarat and laid waste the fertile

16 . The foreigners, the English and the Dutch in particular, did not entirely escape
the disastrous effects of the famine. There was not much loss of life among
them, but there was great loss in trade and commerce, and the Dutch and
English factories were practically destroyed.

n. For an account of how famines were dealt with in ancient times, see Prof.
Commessariat, University Lectures.

THE ECONOMIC FACTOB ; POFtflUkTION AND OCCUPATKIN 57

districts of Dholka and Dhandhuka. It is interesting to note that this famine
was followed by a wave of extreme mortality."

In 1681 A.D. there seem to have been riots in Ahmedabad due to
famine and scarcity. The city was placed under martial law; and the duty
on grain imported to the capital had to be remitted. The “Panchotaro”
(Samvat 1775; 1718-19 A.D.) according to the Mirdt~i-Ahmadi, was the
next memorable year of scarcity, in which the “price of Bajri and of Math
is said to have risen to a shilling per pound (four seers the rupee). Special
arrangements were made for the sale of grain in the Capital. All grain
entering the city was taken to the residence of Dewan Raghimathdas, and
there divided into small portions and sold to the poor.”

This scarcity was also felt in Marwad, which is cited by Todd as an
instance of the caste-confusion caused by famine, where the ministers of
religion forego their duties, the Sudra could not be distinguished from the
Brahmin; and the four castes threw away every symbol of separation; and
all distinction was lost in hunger. It rained twice^ but out of season. The
poor lived on the leaves and roots of wild plants; but after a time this
unwholesome diet caused a pestilence, and many died. People were reduced
to selling their children for one or two rupees.

The '‘Second Sitasio” of Samvat 1787 (1731-32) was as severe as the
first. It rained cats and dogs for foiurteen days, compelling Maharaja
Abhayasing, Viceroy of Gujarat, to raise the siege of Dabhoi. Grain was
already dear due to preceding years of scarcity and now the country was
flooded, the roads impassable, and grass not procurable, wherefor horses
and cattle were reduced to eating the leaves of trees. Grain rose to 2 shill-
ings per pound (i a pakka seer per rupee). After the rains, fever and
cholera broke out to complete the havoc. Ahmedabad was crowded with the
f amin e-stricken from surrounding villages. There was no time to bathe,
shroud, or bury the Mahomedan dead, writes Mirdt-i-Ahmadi. Many poor
Mahomedan women were bought by Marwadls and were converted to
Hinduism."

The literature of the time contains references that bear out these
accounts. Vallabhabhatta (Samvat 1710-1800) has given apowerful description
of the conditions prevailing in those times, owing to the triple alliance of

18. See Bomhay Gazetteer, Vol. VIII, p. 295.

19. See MiraUi-Ahmadl, Chapter III; also TaAkM~Sora^h, for a similar ‘SuidhV.

58

CULTURAL HISTORY OF GUJARAT

famine, flood and pestilence, principally in the years 1732-33-34 A. D*
Abnormal occurrences such as these seem to have influenced the minds of
certain poets of Gujarat. It was the famine of Saihvat 1729 that led Pre-
m ^nand to select Rsya§rnga Akhy&na as the theme of a poem.**

The “Suflatalo” of Saihvat 1847, too, was very bad. The author of the
Tarikh-iSorath says that many Hindus turned Muslim just to obtain bread,
and many Muslims, likewise, forsook their faith. Grass was as costly as
saffron, and grain terribly dear.

The “Agnotaro” of Saihvat 1869 was an equally heavy famine in
Marwad, in Gujarat and in Saurastra. Such strange things were done

20. “STW «IIFl

ft irai jft& H fiff. »

sRiapin ft f5^<t, ^ ftv in^ flniw.

srfff «i3 ft f5=a(t, »irer gaui
• • # • « •
arfk ^ 5^ ft 3l«t4 fiv-qt 3Rn«I.

ufsiiffJrt ft ?ri>Jr 5t

UPTO a«it gft ft to ik,

fiCf ^ 5ft ft fjfO, 111 »n?r 5iuRiR. IV

jRc fi<t ifft^ ^ f ja(t, Juu: fi^t ?Fi:fK,

ff<f 3irfi^ fr»it^ ^ fsfft, sift fR. <10

sni ! 3nft-gf2t ft fjf^t, 0t^ ^ 5r mu,

?r3> ffit HTi:FPit d «i5=f<t, ft smH.”

(VaUabha Bhatta, Kali Kdlano Garbo, 1736 A. D.)

21. See Premananda, R^yasringa Akhydna : Prachina Kavya Traimasika, Vol,
IV, No. 2.

» fii® fit, TOT mwr mfl ufrara
«t»pi?ft# g®Rif, ^ vffirt fio5
k 5Sbi<n^^, fiiR fi<t g ?
aiflr RRif 51^ M, ffsf sRMt w flit ”

THE ECONOMIC FACTOK : POPULATION AND OCCUPATION

59

because of hunger and thirst that it became a common thing to refer to the
sins committed during this famine in a collective form." The local distress
was enhanced by good-for-nothings from Marwad, who wandered over the pro-
vince committing crime, spreading disease, and raising the price of provisions;
and a visitation of locusts in the same year, which, driven out of Marwad by
lack of rain, spread over Saurastra and Northern Gujarat, filled the cup of
misery to the brim. These locusts devoured not only the rain-crops, but even
the leaves and barks of trees, whose branches broke under their weight. A
gruesome picture of the havoc worked by this famine is given in the Bombay
Gazetteer, Vol. IV (pages 60, 220). The selfishness of mercenary grain-
merchants and the cruel indifference of the rich in the city of Ahmedabad
soon reduced the refugees from villages to the most grievous straits. In
almost all the chief towns of Gujarat, the Mahajans joined the Government
in opening relief-houses ; but there was little method in their charity, and
no attempt at order.

“It was a cruel sight” writes the Bombay Gazetteer, “to see the
struggles when the doors were opened to divide the food. Children were
often crushed under the foot of their own parents, and many people died
from greed and gluttony”. The suburbs of all the large towns were sur-
rounded by the destitute. They squatted under trees at the road-sides, men
women and children, all huddled together, famished, sick, and dying, some
with scanty coverings, others with hardly a rag. To the miseries of starva-
tion were added those of sickness. Some public works were undertaken,
wells were dug, and rich merchants subscribed handsomely to lighten dis-
tress, but the relief was but partial. Men and cattle died by thousand.
The famous Shahi Bag Palace in Ahmedabad was built in 1622 by Shah
Jahan, then the Viceroy of Gujarat (1616-1622 A. D.) to give work to the
poor during a season of scarcity.”

So famous were these famines, that the people still swear by their sin
and misery. A man will say, "if what I state is false, let the sin of 1869
cling to me.” Another will say, “swear to me by the misery of Samvat
1869.” Though famtiiarly called “Agnotaro”, the famine began in Samvat
1868 and did not end till 1871. In 1870 excessive rain spoiled the crops, and
people, enfeebled by pestilence, could not sow the weather-crops. In this
year, also, destructive floods ruined many houses, and in some places even
swept away whole villages.

22. For instance, as a warning against the misappropriation of MSS. copies, see
colophons : —

“ NT ^ sStSsI ^ TIV d I ”

CULTURAL HISTORT OF GOJABAT

The Tarikh-i-Sorath says that all these calamities were attributed to
the comet of 1812 A. D. One K^snarama carried away by the general
condition of society after the visitation of this famine, has eloquently de-
scribed in a powerful poem, the actual position of the Gujaratis in Kali
KaUtnun Varnan, * written only five years after the event, when it was still
quite fresh in his memory. Of course, he imputes the whole blame to Kali,
the “Bad Times” personified. The usual monsoon season during this 3 rear
gave rise to a couplet which is still preserved in records and memorised by
the people."

Next in importance and influence to famines and years of scarcity
are the devastating forces of Epidemics and Floods. The earliest record
of such calamities in Gujarat is fvurnished by the mention of a plague in
1443 A. D., which caused such havoc in Sultan Ahmad’s army while he
was in Malwa, that he retired to Gujarat. The famine of 1590 was followed
by a kind of plague which depopulated not only villages but whole
cities. The plague that next raged in Ahmedabad in 1618, began in the
Punjab in 1611. It was supposed to be connected with the Comet of
1612. No place in Hindustan escaped its ravages and though varying in
severity, for eight years, it continued to lay waste the whole country. In
this unheard of epidemic, the Hindus suffered more than the Mahomedans.

In 1618, Emperor Jahangir congratulated himself on having escaped
the plague (waba) by coming to Ahmedabad. But the plague rushed
to Ahmedabad soon after the Emperor, and was most deadly, specially
amongst the Europeans. Jahangir writes, “This disease had never appeared
before in this country as for two years there bad been want of rain and
the country had suffered from famine. Sopie said it was due to the
foulness of the air from draught and scarcity. God knows, and we must
submit to His will.”” It was the same outbreak that in 1684, near Goa,
attacked Sultan Mozzim’s army and carried off 500 men in a day; and raged
in Surat for six years (1684 to 1690) without interruption.

The outbreak of pestilence, which came in the wake of the 'Agnotaro
Kala’, was so deadly that it was said to have destroyed half the ryots in
the country. The poor, reduced to a diet of leaves, roots and seeds, fell an
easy prey to pestilence. There was sickness in every house, whole families
were carried off. Driven south by the famine in Northern Gujarat, crowds

23 Bfhat Kavya Dohan, Part I (1925 edition), p. 746.

sfer, % wiJlfujiii =^1.”

25 Elliot, VI, p. 407.

tm tcosomc rAcroB ; pofulahon and occupation

61

of criminal, idle, and diseased immigrants from Kaccha and Malwa caused
great injury in Surat and Broach. “These famine immigrants are said to
have introduced small-pox of a very virulent description and pestilential
disease of the febrile kind, from which Surat suffered severely.’’”

The third abnormal phenomenon of floods, by the overflowing of
rivers, completed the helplessness of the people of Gujarat. The Sabarmati
floods of 1732 A.D., referred to by Vallabhabhatta just after the second
Sitasio famine,” of the Rupen river in 1814, when the rains were so very
heavy in the southwest of Palanpur that the flooded river carried away the
ICarpa Sagar Lake which had safely dammed its waters since 1090 A.D.,
and of the Tapti river which drowned a major part of Surat, just after a
heavy fire, almost within two decades of the floods in Sabarmati (Saihvat
1893) The floods of Samvat 1778 in the Narmada have been recorded in a
Revdji-no-Garbo by Umiyadas in the same year*’. These floods caused a
terrible amoimt of devastation and misery to the people in those particular
parts of Gujarat.

The earliest record of a flood in peninsular Gujarat is preserved in the
inscription of Rudradaman. The event was the bursting of the great dam of
the Sudarsana lake at Junagadh in 151 A. D. This dam, originally constructed
by Pusyagupta, Governor of Candragupta, in 317 B. C. had to be repaired
in the reign of Asoka (250 B. C.), Candragupta’s grandson, by his Yavana
Governor Tusaspa. It burst during the reign of Rudradaman (151 A. D.),
was repaired, and again gave way in the reign of Skanda Gupta (457 A. D.).

The flood in 151 A. D. seems to have been a truly terrible one. Inspite
of all possible precautions to avert imminent danger, the dam gave way, and
the devastation that followed can better be imagined than described. Heavy
rain had turned the whole earth into a lake, and had converted the rivers
Suvarnasikata, Palasinl, and other streams, which flowed from Gimar into
the lake, into powerful torrents, beyond the strength of the dam to resist.
Furious onslaughts of wind and rain completed the havoc. The wind was
strong enough to uproot and hurl into the lake everything that stood in its
way, from the trees ^t crowned the summit of Gimar to the houses and

26. Hamilton’s ‘Description of Hinduism’, quoted in Bombay Gazetteer, Vol. II,
p. 315.

27. Cf. ‘HTI

28a. As witness popular ballads like ‘ ‘ sjpRl

TO)’, uwl’.

28. Published in * by M. R. Majmudar, 1658.

62

CULTURAL HXSTORY OF GTTJABAT

villages that nestled at its base. The dam, then, burst, and the newly liber-
ated waters rushed headlong to the sea, carrying all before them. It was an
overwhelming calamity, with which (so says the Inscription) all the courage
and administrative skill of the officials on the spot were powerless to deal.
The record of the double breaking and the double mending of dam of the
lake Sudarsana, is an important landmark in the early history of Gujarat.

Famines lead to migrations; and migrations affect the population. In
about 1400 A. D. the Kathis, for instance, whose sole occupation was that
of graziers, left Kaccha, which was famine-stricken, and came to Saurastra,
which thence came to be known as ‘Kathiawad’. Lakho Fula:oi> also driven
out of Kaccha by a seven-year famine, migrated southwards into Saurastra
and founded a settlement in Pancal in the 10th century A. D.” Malwa,
too, afforded shelter to the famine-stricken, traditional stories and folksongs
tell us ^ and so did Gujarat.

The first migration from Gujarat to Bombay seems to have taken place
in 1790 A. D., when a severe famine in Gujarat, known as “Sudatalo”
(Saihvat 1847) drove a great many Parsi families away from the villages
round Surat into Bombay, where local Parsis gave them a warm welcome."
These famine-induced migrations from the north, however, led to no increase
in the population of Gujarat, because of the several hundred thousand people
who are supposed to have come from Saurastra, Kaccha and Marwad as
refugees, very few seem to have survived. The plague and pestilence
proved too much for them.

Besides the uncertainties of the weather, there were extraneous reasons
for famines in the early years of the last two centuries. The transition from
an old system of Government to a new is an upsetting thing obviously.
When the Mughal power broke down in Gujarat, and the Marathas, Rajaputs

29. A couplet is preserved in Ratm Mala (p. 204), which contains a reference to
Lakha’s migration from Kaccha :

“ *n?t njsqr, sm;

30. The story of Ebhal Valo, as also the seasonal>forecasts, generally attributed to
Bhadali, contain more than one reference to Malwa as a convenient refuge in
times of trouble ;

“ ffm ^ Jisj .•

5iil5i 5 3^-

Spm 5*rra :

fitg ! g ^ 3IT *na%, 5 pwt ”

31. Bombay Gazetteer, Vol. IX, Part II, p. 094.

TBK ICONOIOC r ACTOft : POPULATION AND OCCUPATION

63

azui Mahomedan nobles struggled for supremacy, there was war; and, with
war, devastation; then the British stepped in, and took part in many a war
that hindered cultivation and harassed the peaceful village-population.
In the words of Sir Thomas Munro, "Wars were added to unfavourable
seasons to bring up recurring famines in India. We may add to these
reasons the mis-rule of the servants of the East India Company, and
the unhappy blunders which were perhaps inevitable, when a new race of
rulers found themselves called upon to administer the land-revenues of
a strange and newly conquered country.”®

Trade is the second main occupation of the Gujaratis, as is obvious
enough when we consider the contour of the province, with its open coast-
line and ports which date from the very beginnings of the history.” There
were naturally, good trade-routes connecting the ports with the interior
of the province and the continent, for purposes of import and export.

In old times, the chief trade-route in the province followed the coast
from Gogha south-west to Somanath, and thence north-west to Dwarka. The
chief land-routes were those which connected the peninsula with the main-
land, and of these the most frequented passed by Jhinjuwada Patadi to Wadh-
wan, and by Viramgam to Wadhwan. The routes by Dholka and Dhan-
dhuka to Wadhwan and Valabhi were also in common use. There seems to
have been a road joining Valabhi and Junagadh and Vanthall; but as the
greater part of it lay in forests and thinly populated country, the trade-route
followed the coast-line. Later on, in the twelfth century, the Solanki of
Anhilwad constructed a military road from Wadhwan to Junagadh by Saila,
Sardhar, Gondal, Virpur and Jetpur, which was used as a trade-route for
many years. It also became the regular road for travellers, and the coast-
routes were gradually neglected save for religious pilgrimages.

In the times of the Mughals, and especially under the Imperial Vice-
roys ( 1573 - 1704 ), the interior of the peninsula became populous, and roads
were multiplied, one of which ran from Wadhwan direct to Dwarka by
Navanagar and Khambhalia. When Dholera and Gogha were the chief ports,
the routes to Dholera from Wadhwan and other places in Jhalawad were by
Limdi and Dhandhuka, and from Halar and Kathiawad proper by Ranpur
and Dhandhuka. The chief road from Ahmedabad to Gohilwad was by

32. Romesh Candra Dutt, Famines in India, p. 16.

33. “Its (Gujarat’s) geographical position has niade it the gateway of India to the
western world from the earliest known antiquity. The chief occupations of its
people have been trade and manufacture in a degree unequalled by the other
parts of India.” Jadunath Sarkar's “Foreword” to Mirdt-i-Ahmadi, Persian
Text, Volume II. 1927, (G. O. Series No. XXXIV).

64

cinunntAL histobt or tjotJOtAt

Dholka, Koth, Hatiala, Dhandhuka, Barvala and Sihor, which abounds in
large rest-houses for Jaina pilgrims to PalitapS. The old route from
Navanagar to Gujarit and Malwa was by Dhrol, Tankara, Morbi, Halvah,
Dhrangadra and Viramgam.

As to the state of communication in the mainland under the strong
rule of the Aphilwa^ dynasties (943-1300), the primaeval forest that
stretched from the hills of Modasa to the mouth of Sabarmatl and the
fringes of the Ran, was gradually converted into cultivated land studded
with wealthy and populous towns, whose very existence testified to the
development of flourishing trade. Its chief inland mart was Dholka. A1
Idrlsi (1150 A.D.) speaks of Dholka, Asaval, on the site of Ahmedabad, and
Sihor, the chief town of Chumval, as places of good trade." With the
building of Ahmedabad in 1411 A.D. (after a long interval of disorder and
insecurity), the country entered upon a new era of commercial prosperity,
the focus being now transferred from the banks of the Sarasvatl to the
banks of the Sabarmatl. This new capital of Gujarat was the heart of the
great kingdom, “which,” says Barbosa, "had many cities and towns in the
interior and very much shipping and many merchants and ship-owners, both
Moors and Gentiles.” From Ahmedabad goods were carried to Cambay
by land for transmission to large vessels.

Towards the close of the 17th century the head of the Cambay
Gulf Wcis silted up, and Surat came into prominence, drawing to itself the
chief trade of the province. In trans-Mahi regions, there was one road, used
by country carts laden with merchandise and raw materials, which passed
through Dabhoi and Karjan to Baroda; a second went through Padra
towards Jambusar, and a third went through Fetlad to Cambay. There wa.s
considerable traffic along the road which passes through Savli and other
important places and terminates at Halol, owing to the large trade in
cattle, horses and other live-stock. Surat, in the latter part of the 18th
century, seems mostly to have made use of two routes for purposes of inland
trade, one to the towns of Northern Gujarat and through Khandesh
southward to the Deccan-Aurangabad and Hyderabad, and the other
northward to Malwa, Indore and Ujjain. Concerning the old main lines
of traffic, Col. Wallace wrote, in 1859, to the Secretary to the Government
of India, “The Baroda Railway runs not along, but at the right angles to the
great lines of existing traffic. One of these lines parting from Surat, runs
up the valley of the Taptl. The second starting from Broach, runs directly
via Dabhoi and Sankheda, towards Indore. The third line parting from

34. Elliot I, p. 87.

THE ECONOMIC EACTOB : POPULATION AND OCCUPATION

65

Broach, passes through Barova whence it passes via Halol and Dohad, into
Malwa. The fourth parting from the Tanfcaria Bander, passes through
Baroda and so joins the Malwa road. The fifth line departing from Nadiad
as the principal entrepdt but gathering all the trade of Gujarat between
the Mahi and the Sabarmati rivers, together with the goods imported to the
ports by sea, principally that of Dholera, passes through Godhra and Dohad
into Malwa.”

These inland routes, however, were only fair-weather roads. Rains
soften the soil, causing the roads to become impassable, and for months at a
time outlying tracts, especially in the black soil region, are practically
cut off from the great centres of population. A certain amount of
agricultural carting and cattle-driving must be done even after the rains
have set in; with the result that the tracks soon turn into quagmires. The
dry season, following, makes matters worse, hardening the tracks into
ruts and lumps most destructive to vehicles and distressing to their
occupants. Riding at any speed over the deeply fissured black soil in the
hot weather, is dangerous; so horsemen, too, are compelled to stick to the
tracks (Childs). The deep dust into which the cotton soil is ground by
heavy cart-traffic makes travelling a dreary affair both for men and
beasts, and during the Cdtur Mdaa, or four months of the Monsoon, people
stay at homes, occupying themselves with domestic and religious matters
and finding all their pleasure in homely activities.

Gujarat was connected with her neighbours by five ancient overland
routes. The most important was the northern route connecting Gujarat with
Sindh and Punjab via Rajputana. From early times, this route seems to
have been very active. Though the greater part of Rajputana is today a
desert, this region supported, what seem to have been, flourishing settlements
in pre-historic times. The recent explorations in Bikaner and at Rangpur
and Lothal in Gujarat have revealed not only an extension of the Indus
Valley Cultures, but also its contacts with the Gangetic Valley and North
Gujarat, which seems to have been the meeting place in pre-historic times, of
the Stone Age Cultures of Punjab and South India.* Probably the earliest
large scale movement along this route was that of the Sakas and the Hunas
(B, C. 200) followed by the Gurjaras.

The eastern routes connected Gujarat with Malwa and the Gangetic
basin. A northerly route following the river Mesvo and the upper reaches
of the Hathmatl, through Idar, Khedbrahma, Harsol and Samalaji, was ex-
tensively used by the Mauryans, the Guptas and the Solankis. The other was

* V. D. Krisnaswamy : ‘Stone Age in India’, Ancient India, No. 3, 1948.

66

CULTURAL HISTORY OF GUJARAT

the water-way provided by the rivers Narmada and Taptl. Since the greatar
part of this lay between the forested hills of Satpura ranges, it is probable
that it was extensively used, although the Marathas entered Gujarat in early
18th century through this route.

Then a main north-eastemly route from Surparaka (Sopara) passed
north via Dohad-Ratlam pass. With this was linked up the old onyx route
from Ujjain to Broach near Baroda. Finally the main north-south route
lay along the North Kohkan coast and linked up at Sopara with the two
routes from the Gangetic basin and from Deccan. The Calukya and Rastra-
kuta invasions seem to have occurred along this route.

Thus Gujarat was open to culture-contacts and migrations from Sindh
and Punjab via Rajputana in the north, from Malwa and Gangetic basin in
the east, and from Deccan in the South, not to speak of the contacts from
the sea-routes.

The oldest ports in India are to be found on the coast-line of Gujarat
from which we can infer the importance it gained from the extensive mari-
time trade that then existed. Baudhayana Smfti* states that “northerners
(i. e., the people of Gujarat, Saura^tra and Sindh-Baudhayana himself being
a southerner) were hardy seamen since long; they are not to be condemned
because of their frequent voyages.”"’ Maritime activity in the Aryan north
must, then, have existed long enough to be accepted without demur even
by the orthodox Smrtis. Then there is evidence of the Jdtakas, which them-
selves belong to 500 B. C.; but the folk-stories on which it is based date back
to times unknown. References in these to Barygaza and iSurparaka
merchants*' show that this maritime activity existed in the 8th century
B. C. If it was in full swing in 800 B. C., it n^ust have commenced much
earlier. The fame, prosperity and wealth of ancient Bhrgupura, even in
pre-historic times, were due almost entirely to its extensive maritime com-
merce.

The discovery of Indian-made articles in the ruins of Babylon has
proved that the maritime activity of Broach had commenced at least as early
as the middle of the second millenium B. C. In the time bf the author of the
Periplus (C. 200 A. D.) five distinct trade-routes seem to have centred at

* Assigned by Buhler to the fifth century B. C.

35.

36. ffT«iwR ^ jtrf*!

»r«0(?r i”— ^RR! I

THE ECONOMIC FACTOR : POPULATION AND OCCUPATION

67

I

Broach, or, as it was then called, *Barugaza’, of which two were by sea and
three by land. Of the sea>routes, the most important led to southern Arabia
and Egypt, the other to the ports of the Persian Gulf. The land-routes were
used to carry merchandise to and from northwards through Sindh, eastwards
through Ujjain (then the capital of Malwa), and southwards as far as Daula-
tabad (Tagara) and Paithan, the chief towns of the Deccan.

Besides these regular trade-routes, there was traffic between Broach
and Africa, and probably between Broach, Malabar and Ceylon. About the
beginning of the Christian era, Broach had monopolised all the export and
import trade of northern and central India. The whole of northern India was
using this port for export trade; and the importance of places like Kapadvanj,
Sahel, Bhilsa (old Vidisa) etc., was primarily due to their being on the trade-
route between Pataliputra and Broach. There was, as a matter of fact, no
other port so convenient to Pataliputra, Varanasi, Kanauj and other northern
cities. The export trade of the Deccan, also, passed through this port. Says
the Periplus : “From these marts, Paithan and Tagara, goods are transported
on waggons to Barugaza through difficult regions that have no roads worth
calling such.” The richness of this trade may be inferred from the fact, re-
corded by Pliny, that there was no year in which India did not drain the
Roman Empire of a hundred million lesterces !

This maritime activity of Broach continued unabated until the 7th
century, when Huien Tsiang visited it in the course of his Indian tour. He
wrote “Their sole profit is from the sea.” The trade probably declined con-
siderably during the next two centuries owing to Arabian piracy, which
became rampant at this period. In later times, although Broach district was
no longer the trade-centre of Gujarat, it had yet so far maintained its position
as a mart as to send forth in the 17th century, ships eastward to Java and
Sumatra, and westward as far as Aden and the port of the Red Sea. Later,
as the foreign trade of Gujarat centred more and more in Surat, and thence
was transferred to Bombay, Broach lost its maritime glory. The cotton ex-
ported from Broach to China and Bengal was sent through Surat and Bombay,
and as far back as 1815, Broach port had ceased to have any foreign commerce.

According to Ptolemy, the order of the western coastal territories was
as follows ; — Syrastrene (Sorath) , Larike (the strip of land bordering the Gulf
of Cambay, called the Sea of Lar, down to early Mahomedan times), and the
strip of land bordering the Gulf of Barugaza (known as Aparanta or Northern
Konkan). Mangrol, a most important port, is mentioned by Ptolemy
as a mart in Saurastra or Syrastrene as early as the first century. After the
strong rule of the Anhilwad dynasties (746-1300) there had been growing
up at Ghoga, under the patronage of Pathan kings, a race of hardy lascars,

68

CULTURAL HISTORY OF GUJARAT

whose prowess enabled Mokhadaji Gohel, in the 14th century, to levy
blackmail on all that entered the Gulf of Cambay from his stronghold in
the island of Piram. His power, however, was but short-lived, for he was
slain in battle by later Mahomedan masters of the province. When the city
of Ahmud Shah arose on the other side of the Gulf of Cambay (1411),
Gogha rose greatly in importance, as all the larger vessels came to anchor in
its deeper waters, and there discharged their cargoes into small crafts for
transmission to Cambay, whence they were carried by land to the capital.

Cambay had become a natural outlet for the export and import trade
of the mighty Gurjara dominion. The extensive trade of Anhilwacl, Agra and
Delhi was all carried through this port and it was from here that Mahomedan
pilgrims from Northern India used to go to Mecca. There were several
marts in the city, its merchants were very rich, and it was one of the chief
money-markets of Gujarat." Many Mahomedan merchants settled in
Cambay, which was also a naval port of the Solankls. Mahomedan chroniclers
inform us that when the mother of Mahmud Ghori, who had embarked for
Mecca from this port, was attacked by pirates, she was saved by the timely
assistance of the naval squadron under Tejahpala, which was probably
stationed at this very port.

With the Mahomedan annexation of Gujarat, the city’s fortunes
declined. In the fifteenth century, after a lengthened interlude of disorder
and insecurity, the province entered upon a new era of commercial pros-
perity. By land came into Ahmedabad the opium of Malwa, horses, arms
and silken stuffs from Khorasan, indigo, tobacco, cotton, and gram from
nearer home, to be bartered for foreign imports and local manufacture.
Out of the city flowed a stream of traffic southward to the ancient entrepdt
of Dholka, where much fine cloth was woven by settlers. Here a small
branch diverged into Saurastra, but the main current passed on to Cambay,
whither were brought by sea, from every part of the eastern world, the
luxuries demanded by a splendid court and a pleasure-loving nobility.
Before the beginning of the 19th century, the silks, brpcades and cotton-
cloths of Ahmedabad (generally bearing the name of ‘ Cambay ’, then the
place of shipment ) were in demand in every eastern market, from Cairo to
Pekin. On the coast of Africa they were exchanged for gold, often at a
hundred times their real value. “ To Aden come ships of Cambay, as many
and so large and with so much merchandise for transport to the Arabian,
Abyssinian and Egyptian markets that it is a terrible thing to think of so

37. “ g?I | Gimar Inscription, 1222 A. D.

THE ECONOMIC FACTOR : POPULATION AND OCCUPATION

great an expenditure of cotton>stuffs as they bring.”*

The early Portuguese accounts confirm Barbosa’s, bearing ample testi-
mony to the commercial predominance of the great kingdom of Cambay and
its capital, Ahmedabad. Its merchants were their keenest rivals, its mer-
chandise their richest prizes. The clash of interests between European traders
and Indian traders all over the world gave the first shock to the trade of
Ahmedabad. Not only did the Portuguese, whose position was finally estab-
lished by their success at DIv (1538), close the Red Sea against Mahomedan
ships, but their supremacy at sea made even the Gulf of Cambay as unsafe
for their rivals as it had been in the days when the Gohel was still at Piram
(1347 A.D.). In vain did the Gogha sailors try to avoid Portuguese cruisers
by keeping far out at sea and passing, on their way to Malacca and Suma-
tra, through the Maladive Islands to the south of Ceylon; their rich cargoes
fell a prey to the European at every turnand in 1531 Saldana, penetrating
to Gogha itself, destroyed the town,*

More disastrous still was the decline of the power of the Ahmedabad
Kings. In the middle of the 16th century anarchy prevailed throughout the
country; but Akbar promptly quelled, though he could not prevent, rebel-
lions, restored security to property, and abolished transit duties on all arti-
cles of common use. About fifteen years after his cbnquest, the traveller
Frederick (1588) declares that ‘ had he not seen it with his own eyes he could
not have believed that the trade of Ahmedabad and Cambay was so great’.

At the beginning of the 17th century, in spite of slackness in mainten-
ance of public order, and although there were “large tracts full of thievish
beastly men and savage beasts”, specially in the north of Gujarat, two
hundred carts laden with merchandise used to leave the capital almost every
ten days for export by sea. Trading in 1638 was easy and convenient in
Ahmedabad”, except for gunpowder, lead and saltpetre, for which a licence
was wanted. Strangers were free to trade in any commodity they pleased.
The only customs duty was a charge of fifteen pence on every wagon, and
the Vania’s correspondents in all parts of Asia, and even in Constantinople,
made exchange easy and advantageous.” People and merchandise from all
parts of Asia were to be found in Ahmedabad.

* Stantlcy’s Barbosa. Sanghavl R$abhadas of Cambay furnishes us with a
glowing picture of Cambay trade in his Hira Vijaya Suri Rasa and Kum&rapala
Rasa (Sarhvat 1670-1685).

38. Kerr’s Voyages, VI, p. 223.

39. Mendelso.

40. Harris’ Travels, II, p. 114.

70

CULTURAL HISTORY OF GUJARAT

Towards the close of the 17th centttry trade began to leave AhmedSbad.
The head of the Cambay Gulf was silting up, and Surat, near the mouth of
the Tapti — a port specially favoured by pilgrims to Mecca, and enriched by
English and Dutch commerce, was drawing to itself the chief trade of the
province. From the year 1573, when Akbar conquered Surat, to 1733, when
the decay of the Mughal Empire had set in, the city of Surat passed through
many and great vicissitudes. Under Akbar, Jahangir and Shah Jah§n (1573-
1658), Surat enjoyed peace and prosperity and rose to be one of the first
cities in India. During Aurangzeb’s reign, however, its prosperity was
checked, partially by Maratha raids (1664-1685) and partially by the growing
importance of Bombay. In Akbar’s time (1590) Surat was classed as a first
class port, and greater trade-centre than Kinder, Gandevi and Balsar."

The most important events in the history of Surat at the beginning
of the 17th century are connected with the arrival and settlement of certain
companies of European merchants. The silting of the head of the Gulf of
Cambay, the disturbed state of North Gujarat, and the destruction of Div by
the Muskati Arabs in 1670 combined to make of Surat a trade-centre for the
whole of Gujarat, and its importance as the “Gate-way of Mecca” was further
enhanced by the strong religious feeling fostered by the Emperor in the
Indian Muslims. This struck a blow at Ahmedibad, from which it never
recovered until the establishment of British Rule in 1818. The trade of the
district continued to decline; trade-routes were clogged by transit-duty-
stations and exposed to the attacks of robber gangs who roamed about at
will, in spite of the partial protection given to trade by a few military leaders.
Special importance as a trade-centre had its disadvantages. In Ahmedabad,
the town-duties in the best days of Mahomedan ^ule were fixed for Musal.
mans at 2i% ad valorem, and at 5% for Hindus. They were constantly raised
as the necessities of the rulers grew more pressing. They reached a climax
when, in 1755, the Peshwa and the Gaekwad divided city-revenues among
themselves: Each Government collected its share through its own agents
and went on introducing fresh exactions.

“In this city commerce once met with every encoWagement. It was
the resort of merchants, artists and travellers gf every description. It now
exhibits solitude, poverty and desolation.”® ' Of the sea-borne trade by
Cambay at the end of the 18th century, little or nothing remained except
occasional shipments from the western districts to ports lower down in the
west. Left to herself, Ghogha fell a prey to successive adventures, and even

41. Ain-i-Akbari, II, p, 65.

42. Oriental Memoirs, 1781.

THE ECONOMIC FACTOR : POFOTATION AN» OCCUPATION

71

after she became nominally subject to the Peshwa, bis administration, in so
remote a place, carried no importance. The British opened a new port at
Dholera in 1802, and it rose speedily after 1818, when their Government
had been completely established. Dholera became the terminus of a line of
traffic that stretched as far north as Pali, the great Marwad trade-eentre,
and incidentally this gave the first push to Viramgam towards commercial
importance.®

Let us now cast a glance at the state of trade in Sauraipt>^a ports. In
the peninsula, the chief historic ports were Gogha, Div, Somanath-Patan,
Mangrol, Veraval, and Porbandar. Mangrol, or Mangalpur-Pattapa, is a
very ancient place, famous, even is the first century, as a good port; it is
mentioned by Ptolemy. Ptolemy has also mentioned a number of
ports on the coasts of Saurastra and Gujarat: Bordexima (Porbandar),
Monoglasson (Mangrol); Ashtafrapra (Hastavapra near Valabhipur), Bary-
gaza (Broach), Ka?nane (Kamrej) and Navasaripa (Navasari): From Peri-
plus we learn that Barygaza (Broach) was the chief emporium for the trade
of Western Asia and imports from the Mediterranean region, which included
wine, porcelain, perfumes, vessels of copper and brass; and Broach exported
in turn textiles, spices and onyx from Ujjain. There is abundant material
evidence of this extensive trade through the discovery of Roman coins,
Sculptures, Cameos, Diadems and Roman pottery from Western India.

At the beginning of the 16th century Barbosa describes Mangrol as a
good port, where many ships from Malabar touched for horses, wheat, rice,
cotton, cloths and vegetables, and brought cocoanuts, emery, wax, car-
damoms and other spices. It was called Surati or ‘Sorathi Manglor’, to
distinguish it from ‘Malabari Manglore’.

Somanath Patan, a well-known sea-side place, was a famous town of
pilgrimage for Hindus, and afterwards an embarking port for Muslim
pilgrims on their way to the holy places of Persia and Arabia. Alberunl
says that Somanath was famous for its maritime commerce, and a convenient
station for ships plying between Sofala (in Zanzibar) and China®. This is
confirmed by Merutunga, who narrates how Yogaraja, the grandson of
Vanaraja, seized and plundered some storm-delayed ships at Prabhasa.

43. Situated at the meeting of now unmolested highroads from Rajputana, from
Jalawad, from Ahmedabad and from the three sea-ports of Dholera, Bhava-
nagar and Gogha, Viramgam became a rendezvous for droves of camels
laden with silks, clarified butter, raw sugar and dyes from the ware-house of
Visnagar orVadnagarandRadhanpur.and for carts bringing dry goods from
the fertile districts of Patap.

44. SitchsUf II, 109.

72

CULTURAL HISTORY OF GUJARAT

In the 16th century Div was a famous port of call for all vessels bound
to and from Gujarat, the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf. Portuguese travel-
lers refer to it as the chief emporium in Saurastra, but it declined after its
acquisition by the Portuguese in 1535-36. Gogha, Somanath, Mahgrol and
Porbandar were flourishing ports upto the close of Aurangzeb’s reign.
(1707).

The small sea-port of Veraval* is specially notable for a Masjid built
by Khoja Nur-ud-din Firoz, a navigator (Nakhuda) and a great sailor — ^hail-
ing from the island of Ormaz in the Persian Gulf, with the cordial help and
co-operation of the leading men of the town, who not only gave him land for
it, but even contributed towards its maintenance.

An important feature of mediaeval trade in Gujarat was the tribe of
Banj haras" — main carriers of goods and feeders of the inland trade of the
country. There was wheeled traffic, no doubt, wherever it was possible.
Carts did well enough for level country. But rivers and ups and downs
made rough travelling, and the bulk of heavy goods was moved by means of
pack-animals, and only valuable goods were carted, such as treasure or indigo,
where there were obvious objections to frequent loading and unloading. The
great northern route into Hindustan was regularly used by Banjharas and
Carana Bullocks and Sindhi and Rajput camels. Long droves of these
animals, laden with dyed cloth, opium, sugar, grain, oil-seeds and dyes
streamed down over the hills of Duiigarpur into the plains of Gujarat and
on into Saurastra, returning with salt, tobacco and sea-borne produce.
During the fair weather months, wagons, camels and bullocks brought mer-
chandise into Surat. As carriers of grain for Musalman armies, the Banjharas
have figured in history from the days of Mahamud Taghlak (1340 A. D.) to
those of Aurangzeb (1658-1707); and they supplied grain to the British army
under the Marquis of Cornwallis during the siege of Seringapatam (1791-
92).*’

These Banjharas, by the way, have always made ^ powerful appeal to
the imagination of the people, and Gujarati poets have immortalised them in
poems which, while mainly allegorical and spiritual in theme and spirit, yet

45. Known as the port of Orunz, as mentioned in the inscription in the temple of
Har$ad Mata of Saihvat 1320, now at Veravat — Bh&vanagar Inscriptions, p. 224.

46. ‘Banjh§ra’ from Sanskrt Prakft means those who deal in

merchandise.

47. Bombay Gazetteer, Vol. IX, Part II, p. 86.

THE ECONOMIC FACTOR : POPULATION AND OCCUPATION

73

give us very vivid and most valuable descriptions of the inland trade and
trade-methods of the time.**

The Gujaratis possessed in a remarkable degree, the spirit of enterprise,
and it led them far afield in search of wealth and adventure — to Java** and
Cambodia, so tradition goes, during the sixth and seventh centuries, and,
about the end of the seventh century, to Siam, China, Ceylon and Jbpan/®

There was a great migration from Gujarat in ancient India near the
mouth of the Indus to the Island of Java, due, perhaps, to the devastation of
upper India by Scythian tribes and to the drying up of the country."* The
copies of paintings of ships of Java exactly resemble the carvings in the
Neminath’s temple at Delwada on Mount Abu, executed in a smaller scale
on the right-hand frieze of the temple. It may be observed with interest that
the dress of males in the Borobudur paintings bears a close resemblance to
the Gujarati dress, which finds expression in the carvings at Delwada.”

Gujarat also claims the credit of the colonization of Ceylon by her
enterprizing sons.” The ships of Vijaya, as the legend goes, started from a
place near the city of Simhapur in Gohilwad, Saurastra, and on their way
touched the port of Sopara, which lay near modern Bassein on the western

48. See Brhat Kdvya Dohan, Part I, pp. 698 to 703 for Vivardja Shethanl MusdfarV*;
Part II for **Viveka Vanosdro”; Ibid, for *^BhadrdhhdminV*; Prdclna Kavyamdld
No. 35 for **Sheelavati no Hdsa” and “Ra^hidli Rdta”, Part III, p. 103.

49. For the Western strain of element in Java, see Bombay Gazetteer, Vol. I, p. 489.

50. The Hindu immigrants into Java came from the west coast of India, from the
valley of the Ganges; this fact is supported by the existence of the proverb in
Gujarati still well-known both in Marwad and in Gujarat. The proverb has
the following versions : —

(1) ‘Who to Java roam, never come home; if they return, through
seven lives seated at ease their wealth survives.’

(2) ‘Who go to Java stay for Aye.

If they return they feast and play.

Such stores of wealth their risks repay.'

51. Quoted in Indian Shipping by Dr. H K. Mukerjee, p. 49.

52. Gujarat un Vahdy^avatu by Ratnamapirao Bhimarao in Vasant Silver Com-
memoration Volume (1927), p. 192.

53. Dr. Suniti Kumar Chatterji observes in his History of Bengdli Language,
published in 1924, (pp. 72-73, foot-note):—

“The people of Western India coast were adventurous sailors from very
early times, even before the advent of the Aryans; and not to speak of their
voyages to lands beyond the Arabian Sea, Java in the Eastern Ocean was first
colonized from India by Gujarat people in the last century B. C., according to
Javanese tradition. The Sinhalese language according to Geiger, is connected
with Western Praki*ts, Saura§tri and Mahard^tri rather than with Magadhi.”

74

CULTUBAL HISTORY OF GUJARAT

coast of Deccan; the fleet reached the shores of Ceylon, approaching the
island from the southern side. The settlement of Ceylon, laying as it did
the foundation of a Greater Gujarat, was a national achievement that was
calculated to stir deeply the popular mind and was naturally seized by the
imagination of the artist in Ajanta as a fair theme for the exercise of his
power. The scene of landing of Vijaya in Ceylon about 543 B, C. with
his army and fleet, and his installation, form beautiful representation in
Ajanta paintings.

Since then, Gujarat has connections with Ceylon from very ancient
times. The proverb Bride from Lanka and bridegroom from Gogha**
seems to have come in vogue because of marriage-relations which may
have existed with the settling merchants from Gujarat and Saurastra and
the indigenous inhabitants of the island. There is another reference in
a Jaina book called Vividha Tirtha Kalpa establishing the relation of
Gujarat coast with Ceylon, that in very early times, a princess from Ceylon
had got built a Sakunikd Vihdra in Broach.

As regards trade in the east, we learn that in Acheen, a quarter of the
city was set apart for Gujaratis (1599). Gujaratis were found in Java (1603),
and in 1611, as far south as the island off Banda. It is noted in Kerris
Voyages that Gujarat (Cambay) cloth, blank and red calicoes and calico
lawns, were in great demand, and, incidentally, also that the unpopularity of
the English in Surat was due to their competition with the old Gujarat carry-
ing trade to the Eastern Archipelago.'*^

The Jats were probably the moving spirits in the early Mahomedan
sea-raids (630-770 A. D.) against the Gujarat and Kohkan coasts. During
the seventh and eighth centuries, when the chief migrations by sea from
Gujarat to Java and Cambodia seem to have taken place, Chinese ships visit-
ed Div, piloted, probably, by the Jats. On the Sindh, Kaccha and Gujarat
coasts, there were other tribes also who displayed notable prowess at sea;
and it was thus that in the seventh and eighth centuries, the Gurjars, chief-
ly of the Capa or Cavda clan, both in Dwarka, in Soman|th and inland, rose
to power. We learn from Friar Odoric (1321 A.D.) of a ship that carried full
700 people, a striking proof of the capacity and maritime skill of the Rajput
sailors of Gujarat in the fourteenth century; and it confirms the accounts

It was Simhapur from where Vijaya came and it can be identified with modern
Sihor (in former Bhavnagar State), not far from the sea. Above all, the mention
of Bharukaccha and Suppara is a strong evidence in favour of the West Coast
having been the home of the Aryan settlers in Ceylon several centuries B. C.**

54. Bombay Gazetteer, Vol. II, p. 80, foot-note.

THE ECONOMIC FACTOR : POPULATION AND OCCUPATION

75

we have of the large ships of Gujarat which traversed the Indian Ocean
in all ages.®*

In the fifteenth and during the earlier part of the sixteenth century,
it is evident that much of the Indian maritime activity was manifested on
the Western Coast. Till the arrival of the Portugeese (1500-1508), the
Ahmedabad Sultans maintained their position as ‘Lords of the Sea’; thus,
when in 1535 A. D. Humayun secured Bahadur’s splendid jewelled belt, he
said ‘These are the trappings of the Lord of the Sea.”“ At this time Java
appears in the State List of foreign bandars which paid tribute, which was
probably a cess or ship-tax paid by the Gujarat traders with Java, in return
for the protection of the Royal Navy."’ In 1429, the Gujarat Sultan Ahmad
Shah sent a fleet of seventeen vessels to recover the Island of Bombay and
Salsette seized by the Bahamani Kingdom. Mahamud, the greatest of the
Mahomedan Sultans of Gujarat (1459-1511 A. D.) organized and maintained
a large fleet to subdue the pirates that infested his coasts.** In East Africa, in
1498 A. D., Vasco de Gama found sailors from Cambay and other ports of
India, who steered their ships with the help of the stars in the North and
South, and had nautical instruments of their own."®

The commercial transactions between the Strait of Babel Mandeb, the
mouth of the Persian Gulf and Malacca, bear testimony to Gujarati enter-
prise in 1510 A.D. According to Albuquerque, *^the Gujaratis were the great
carriers all over the Indian Ocean. The Hindus arc not generally credited
with being a maritime people. But it is expressly said of those of Goa
(1506): “they were a maritime race, and more inured to the hardships
of the sea than all other nations, built ships of great burden and navigated
the coasts.” And again in respect of Ceylon and the Far East, “ the Guzera-
tees understand the navigation of those parts much more than any other
nation, on account of the great commerce they carry in those places.”
This much is certain that on the Asiatic side, say from Malacca to Calicut
to Jeddah, the bulk of the overland traffic was carried on by the people of
Gujarat all through the middle ages, whence their cargoes were trans-shipped
on Arab buffaloes tc^ Cosseur and thence by caravan to the Nile, which bore
them on its flood to Roatta.®

55. Stevenson, in Kerr’s Voyages, xviii, p. 324.

56. Bayley’s Gujarat, p. 386.

57. Bird’s Gujarat, p. 131.

58. Elphinstone’s History of India, Appendix on * Gujarat ’.

59. J. A. S. B., Volume V, page 784, quoted by Dr. R. K. Mukorjee in Indian Shipping,

201 .

60. The Bombay Gazette, June 17th 1893, quoted by Dr. IL H. Dhruva.

76

CULTURAL HISTORY OF GUJARAT

This sea*faring tendency of the Gujaratis is due to the fact that there
is no part of Gujarat which is more than 100 miles from the sea, excepting
the Palanpur Agency in the North and Dohad and Jhalod Talukas of the
PaAch Mahils in the East; and this affords peculiar facilities for maritime
activity. The Gujaratis, Hindus, Parsis, Mahomedans and Christians alike
traded with China and distant parts of India and the East Indies, as well as
with the Red Sea Coast and Arabian sea-board and the East African coast,
carrying their sweet language, honest industry and affable manners where-
ever they went.

Moreover, we find this interesting people settled in all parts of India
itself. One meets with Nagar Colonies in U.P., C.P., and in the Deccan,
and the Khedaval Brahmins as far south as Madras, where a whole street is
known as ‘ Gurjar Peth ’. The Patidar Colony of the agricultural traders
from Charotar, settled in South Africa as late as the last century. It has
been suggested" that the enterprising people from the North and Gujarat
gave the names of their original homes to their new ones wherever they
settled. Thus Cambodia is from Kamboja in Kabul, Madura, in the South is
from Mathura, as also Muttra on the coast of Ceylon, Arabia and Java,
Sohpala in Africa from Sopara in Western India, Manglore in the South
from SorathI Mangrol, Socotra from Shahkhoddhar and Kane! from Kashi.
Some Gujarati town-names from the East and South coasts of Saurastra —
such as Mangrol, Mandvi, Veraval, Mahuva — Una have found their
counterparts round about the Surat District, which convinces us that the
Gujaratis settled in the South for purposes of business only.

A particular section of Brahmins and Vaisyas in Gujarat called
‘ Vayada ’ have the unique worship of Vayu, the guardian Dikpala of the
north-west corner, as their traditional family-god. The iconography of
Vayu, suggests speed by its vehicle of an antelope, and direction by a banner
in one of his hands. This suggests that the worshippers of Vayu in
Gujarat had been carrying on an extensive trade with Arabia, Iran and
other parts situated in the north-west direction to the coast of Gujarat and
Saurastra.“ '

Detailed information can be had about, the shipbuilding industry in
Gujarat after Surat became a port of importance, and the European mer-
chants encouraged local artisans to supply their needs. Next to the manufac-
tures of cloth, the most important industry in Surat about the end of the 17th

61. Gujarat uii Vahaifuvatu, p. 184, foot-note.

62. For details, see M. R. Majmudar : “Iconography of Vayu and Vayu-worship in
Gujarat ”, Journal of the Indian Society of Oriental Art, Vol. XI, 1943.

THE ECONOMIC FACTOR : POPUtATlON AND OCCUPATION

77

century would seem to have been ship-building. In 1688, mention is made of
a very fine stout ship of over 1,000 tons, built in the river at Surat, and the
ship-carpenters are said to have been able to copy any English ship in all its
details, as exactly as if they had been the first to build it. Padre Ovington
has noted as early as 1690, the marvellous aptitude of the Surat carpenters
for copying English ships, and the superior qualities of teak for men-
of-war and merchantmen alike.

The Surat ship-builders seem to have closely followed European
models both in the forms of the ships they built and in the style of their
rigging, differing only in certain details of construction, such, for instance,
as that most of the timbers were fitted in after the planks had been put
together, a task needing great care and skill. When the edges of a plank fitted
exactly into their places, they first rubbed in a glue, which by age became
as hard as iron, and then covered it with a thick layer of an adhesive
substance, after which they united the planks so firmly and closely with pegs
that the whole seemed a single piece of timber. To preserve them from
the salt water, the sides of the ships were occasionally smeared with wood
oil. Their bolts were peculiar, of country iron, very tough and flexible. As
to the rigging, the masts were generally made of Pun wood, from the Malabar
coast. For sail, coarse cotton cloth or dotti did very well, for though not so
strong and lasting as canvas, it was more pliant and less apt to split."

According to Dr. Friar (1672), Aurangzeb kept four great ships in
Surat to carry pilgrims to Mecca free of charge. The history of the Bombay
Marine, started by English ship- builders, began in 1613, when a squadron
was formed at Surat to resist the aggressions of the Portuguese and of the
pirates who infested the Indian seas. A building yard was maintained at
Surat till 1735, when most of the work was transferred to Bombay. This
was the beginning of the association of the Pars! ship-builders of Surat
with the Indian and Imperial Navy Service. The United East India Com-
pany’s dock started at Surat was managed by Parsi carpenters.

In 1735, Dhunjibhoy, the master-builder of Surat, was sent to Bombay
to build “Queen” f on the East India Company. The “Queen” was a great
success and the Company decided to ask Lawj! Nasarvanji, Dhanjibhoy’s
Parsi foreman, to set up a regular ship-building yard there. Lawjl undertook
the task and the contract for the supply of teak-wood from the forests. By
1754, the work had grown to such an extent that a dry dock was constructed,
to which a second, and then a third, were quickly added, and Bombay soon
assumed the proportions of an immense naval arsenal to which ships from

63. Bombay Gazetteer, Vol. II, p. 146, foot-note.

78

CULTURAL HISTORY OF GUJARAT

all parts of the Indian Ocean resorted for repairs, which could be under-
taken in safety under the guns of the fortress,

Lawji's son Jamseiji, who also had taken to the same business,
turned out a fine frigate, the “Cornwallis^* of 50 guns, in 1802, which was so
admired by the Admiralty, that they decided to place orders for line-of-battle
ships with the Bombay Yard, and in 1810, two vessels, one of 1,200 and the
other of 1,400 tons, were laid down “ We notice that the ship-building
industry in Gujarat, nearly 300 years ago, grew at the hands of the English
merchants, in the large ship-building yards at Bassein, Daman and Dahanu
which were under Portuguese jurisdiction. These were preferred to the
yards at Navsari and Gandevi, which were in Mughal territory, and for
the use of which permission had to be obtained from the Governors of Surat.
Small sailing boats — Machhavas — plying for local trade were manufactured
at most of the Gujarat ports, but for long distance only the larger craft,
known as Padavas and Bdtelos were used. Most of them were built in
Billimora and Daman, because other places lacked home-grown timber
suitable for ship-building. The other vessels of various sizes — Kotia, Navdi,
Dihgl, Padav, Batelo or Machhavo — were built by Gujarat artisans.

Manufacture : The Gujaratis, however, were not simply carriers of
goods and selling-intermediaries between the artisans or manufacturers of
India. Not only was Gujarat a great trading centre, it was also the seat of
certain indigenous manufacturers whose fame travelled even to lands beyond
the seas. The carpenter, the potter, the blacksmith, the stone-mason, the
weaver, the dyer, the tailor, the shoe-maker, the drug-seller, and the sweet-
meat-maker were recognised members of most village communities in Gujarat,
as in other provinces of India. Artistic workers, in wood, clay, stone, metals
and textiles were to be found in localities suitable for the exercise of their
art. Handi-crafts, for instance, flourished best in large towns, as happened
during Muslim rule (1300-1752 A.D.).

Agriculture keeps the people busy only for 6 out of 12 months in the
year, and they need a supplementary occupation for the rest of the time.
The spinning-wheel supplied this want. Although it brought in but little
money, it was nevertheless sufficient to stave, off starvation and help the
people to face the rigours of lean years. Since the advent of machinery,
however, this occupation and income have been lost to them.

Among the arts and crafts which give us an insight in the socio-eco-
nomic life of the people of Gujarat, that of cotton manufacture is the most

64. H. G. Rawlinson’s article on ** Master-Builder'* : Times o/ India, 16th October, 1928.

THE ECONOMIC FACTOR : POPUI-ATION AND OCCUPATION

79

significant, with its deep-rooted effect upon their national character. We now
deal with the evolution and progress of cotton** manufacture in Gujarat. The
Greek historian Herodotus (Circa 445 B. C.) being struck with one peculiarity
that distinguished India from other countries, records that *^cotton was the
customary and common wear of the Indians. They possess likewise a plant
which, instead of fruit, produces wool of a finer and better quality than that of
sheep; of this the Indians make their clothes.’* Arrian states on his authority
that ^‘the Indians wore linen garments, the substance whereof they were
growing upon trees; and this he says, is indeed flax. They wore shirts of the
same, which reach down to the middle of their legs, and veils which cover
their heads and a great part of their shoulders.” In spite of this reference to
the cotton plant, general ignorance about cotton being a distinct fibre
prevailed nearly upto the end of the 17th century in Europe.

The region of the Indus does not seem to have produced very fine
fabrics, fit for Royal wear. Kautilya does not include it in his list, but
notices it only incidentally under the name ‘ Saindhava i. e., product of the
country of Sindhu or the Indus. ‘Mahisamandala’ mentioned in the Arthasastra,
may tempt us to interpret it as the province of Gujarat, watered by the
river Mahi, but that is likely only on the ground that the industry existed
in the region of the Mahi and supplied the local needs; bnt there is hardly a
village or town on its bank or near by which was noted for its fine fabrics, as
Broach was in later days. Hence some scholars identify the country of
Mahisa with Masulipatam.

The author of Periplus (60 A. D.) mentions that the Parthian kings
held under their sway the whole of the North-west area, including Sindh,

65. “ ‘ Cotton ’ : the Sanskrit term is from which the Greek and Latin “carpasos”

or “carbasos” are derived. The earlier meaning of the term cotton was
“flax’'. The same name was known to the Phoenicians and the Hebrews. The
Arabic terms are “kutu”, “katan”, or “kutun” from which the term “cotton”
is derived. These too, originally denoted “flax’\ Aviarakosa giving syno-
nyms for gives also as one of them, meaning what had its final

end as far as the -feea or upto the sea; i.e. which was unknown beyond the
sea. The fact that the Greek, Latin and Arabic equivalents for “cotton”
originally denoted “flax”, proves that it was not known to them as a dis-
tinct fibre. Even in England the word “cotton” was very reluctantly ac-
cepted as the name of a distinct fibre after 1664 A. D. (See : Watt : Commercial
Products of India, page 571.) This piece of philological evidence, supported by
botanical evidence that cotton, being a plant 'of the Malvacea family is found
chiefly in tropical countries, and also in the warm parts of the Temperate Zone,
leads one to conclude that the cotton plant is indigenous.” — History of Cotton
Industry in India [An unpublished M.Sc. (London) thesis by the late J, N.
Varma, M.Sc., Bar-at-Law, 1923.]

80

THE economic factor : POPUtATION AND OCCUPATION

Saura^tra and Northern Gujarat as far as Broach. In spite of this foreign
domination, the province of Sindh was a flourishing one in the matter of
manufacture and commerce. Amongst the various commodities that this
province supplied for export to foreign lands, the author notices cotton cloth,
silk yarn and indigo. Proceeding further, he mentions the coast of Syra-
strene, now Saura^tra, as being a very fertile province, which produced,
among other things, “cotton and Indian clothes made therefrom of the coarse
sorts”. The expression “Indian clothes” seems to have meant “cotton cloth” to
foreign traders, which suggests the existence of a standardised cotton indus-
try in the country. The region of Saurasfra, being mainly agricultural, does
not seem to have produced cloth for foreign commerce; hence its manufacture
is mentioned as being of a coarser texture.

The next region of note, and perhaps the most important of all in the
whole of India as regards foreign commerce in cotton fabrics in those early
days, was — what the author calls the country of Africa — * Attica ’, the region
including chiefly the modern district of Broach and the country round about,
watered by the river Narmada. The chief port of the province on the Western
Coast was Barygaza, now Broach, which, besides the cloth manufactured in
that district, obtained a large part of its stock for foreign markets of the
West from various inland places, as southern ports were obstructed by the
Saka power in Gujarat.

A parallel instance of resorting to a particular port due to political
disturbances may be found in the early days of the 16th century, when
the Portuguese depredations transferred the cloth export for Europe
from Bombay and Surat to Goa. Thus we learn from Periplus that the
province of Gujarat produced cotton cloth of all kinds in large quantities,
and supplied, through its chief emporium. Broach, the bulk of stock needed
for foreign trade in these early days. Even in later years Gujarat does not
seem to have produced fabrics fine enough to surpass those of Bengal. The
people, being commercial in tendency, remained contented with fabrics of
ordinary fineness, for which they found an extensive market and secured
good profits. The manufacture of superfine fabrics was not so paying, as
naturally the market for them was restricted.

The fall of Valabhipura, and Ihe advent of the followers of Prophet
Mahmud in the beginning of the 8th century A. D., did not much affect the
peaceful pursuits of the artisans. Ibn Haukal (916 A. D.), describing the
apparel of the Gujaratis, mentions that “In that region both the Moslem settlers
and the Hindus wear the same kind of dress. They use fine Muslim garments
on account of the extreme heat. All persons wore short tunics, except the
merchants, who put on shirts and cloaks of cotton, like the men of Irak and

tt!£ ECbNOMIC FACTOB : FOHJLAilON MO OCX!tJPATtOK gj[

Persia " The partiality shown by the people of Gujarat for cotton cloth
testifies that the industry of cottonweaving was kept intact. A1 Edrisi
(1179-1186) refers to the harbour-towns of Cambay, Broach, Sopara, and
Sanjap belonging to the king of Naharwala (Anhilwa4)» which were
celebrated for their- commerce with various countries. At Cambay,
particularly, many ships came, bringing merchandise from all the countries
of the world. Naharwala was frequented by many Mahomedan traders,
who were honourably received and justly treated. He refers to the riches
and power of the SolankI king who, along with his attendants, was clad
in rich stuffs. This proves that the cotton manufacture of Gujarat was
in a flourishing condition throughout the ages, and produced, albeit in
small quantities, fabrics of fine texture and superior workmanship. The
Mahomedans, rulers of Gujarat since 1390 A.D., although they did nothing
directly to stimulate commerce and industry, at least put no obstructions in
the way of their development, because they were fully alive to their own
interests. This is confirmed by Tarikh^i-Firuz Sh&hi (14th century) which
refers to the embroidered robes worn by the Mahomedan Governors.

The account of Barbosa (1520 A.D.), a Portuguese adventurer who
visited India soon after the discovery of the passage round the Cape of Good
Hope, brings our story to the 16th century, when cotton fabrics were
supplied by Gujarat to foreign markets, over and above the quantities
needed for the satisfaction of local demands.*” Somanath, according to him,
produced '*many silk stuffs, coloured, with much embroidery, and also many
cotton stuffs”. He also mentions more than half a dozen ports of Gujarat
which carried on coastal as well as foreign trade in cotton fabrics. Mahgrol,
Div, Gogha, Gandevi were famous places from which cotton cloth manu-
factured in the interior of the country was transported to ports on the
Malabar Coast, and also to foreign countries East and West. Cambay was
perhaps the most important port on the Western Coast as far as the cotton
trade was concerned. Says Barbosa about Cambay, “There are workmen and
mechanics of subtle workmanship of all sorts after the fashion of Flanders,
and all very cheap. ^ They make there many cloths of white cotton, fine and
coarse and other woven and coloured fabrics of all kinds; also many silk

66. Elliot,!, p.39.

67. C§licut on the Malabar Coast was the chief emporium for spices; and foreign
ships went there directly. In order to save them a further voyage, the Malabar
merchants kept large stocks of cotton fabric to supply their needs, which is why
cloth of ordinary texture, manufactured chiefly in Gujarat, during the Mughal
period, and first introduced by the Portuguese to countries of Western Europe
came to be known as ' Calico \

11

82

CULTURAL HISTORY Of GtJJARAT

fabrics of all kinds and colours and camlets of silk and velvet of all colours,
both smooth and fluffy, and coloured and thick tdffetdsJ^ Many other
authorities also bear eloquent testimony to the flourishing condition of cotton
manufacture in Gujarat throughout the pre-Moghul Mahomedan period.”

The * baftas ’ of Broach, Baroda and Navsari are mentioned in the East
India Company’s invoices as ‘ Narrow Baftas Broad Baftas, Special Narrow
Baftas, and Dye-Baf tas ” Mandelso (1658) speaking of Gujarat, notes “the cotton
and linen clothes, which are in fineness equal to those of Holland.’”' Mangrol,
perhaps and Gogha, according to Hamilton, also Porbandar in the peninsula
of Saurastra were famous at this time not only as ports, but also as manu-
facturing towns.’^ Beyond these four places, we know little about the manu-
facturing centres in the peninsula. They seem to have been left unexplored.
The fact is that though the industry had exLsted there, since the time of the
Periplus (60 A. D.), it was not of a sort to impress the commercial world,
being just plain cloth of inferior texture to supply local needs; while regions
of the mainland looked not only to their own requirements, but manufactured
cloth in quantities sufficient to satisfy foreign demands.

In Northern Gujarat there were several districts which produced
cotton fabrics of different varieties. Passing through the extreme North of the
province on his way from Allahabad to Agra, Mandelso (1638) noticed
several towns which concentrated only on local needs. Mehsana and the
country round about produced much cotton, but little cloth, Bisnagar, he

68. Haklyt Society, Barbosa, p. 67.

69. The Jdmi-Ul-Hifcdj/at (1210 A. D.) has a couple of historical anecdotes relating
to the industry carried on in Patan, the metropolis of the kingdom of the Solah-
kis. (Elliot, II, pp. 164-65). The Tazjiya-UUAmsar (1300 A. D) pays an
indirect tribute to the products of Cambay looms, in a passage where he de-
scribes the booty obtained in that city by the armies of Allaudin Khilji as
consisting amongst other precious things, of “a great variety of cloth, both silk
and cotton, stamped (printed), embroidered and coloured'*. (Elliot, III, page 43).

Marco Polo (1272) observes about Cambay : “ The trade carried on is very
considerable, and a great quantity of indigo is manufactured. There is abundance
of cotton cloth as well as of cotton in the country. Cotton is produced in large
quantities, the coarser sort being adapted for quilting, the finer sort benig
suitable for muslins and other manufacture^ of extraordinary fabrics. Em-
broidery is here performed with more delicacy than in any part of the world.

Varthena (1508 A. D.) observes about the same port: “An immense quanti-
ty of cotton is produced here, so that every year forty or fifty vessels are laden
with cotton and silk stuffs, which are carried into different countries."

70. ‘Factory Records’, Surat, 1625.

71. See also Tuzuk-i-Jahangtri,

72. Mandelso (1638) and Hamilton (1727).

Tfati ECONOMtiC FACTOR : POFUtAf 16N AS£> OCCUPATION

63

says, abounded in cotton which was turned into both yarn and cloth. In
Patan good cotton cloths were woven and taken to distant parts as gifta of
value.’" Tavernier (1676) also says that this town carried on a flourishing
trade in coloured cottons or chintzes.

Ahmedabad, the new metropolis of Gujarat, won encomiums from
quite a number of chroniclers during this period. According to Mandelso
(1638) there was not in a manner any nation nor any merchandise in all Asia
which may not be had at Ahmedabad, where particularly there were made
abundance of silks and cotton stuffs. At that time of his being there, they
had begun to make a new kind of silk and cotton with flowers of gold, which
was very much esteemed and sold at five crown an ell. Tavernier (1676)
also refers to this mixed fabric. Doti a close-woven fabric of middling
texture, was also excellently woven in Ahmedabad. In short, trade and
manufacture both flourished; commodities were sent to Surat and Cambay
for export, and according to Hamilton (1727), the city was little inferior to
the best towns in Europe.

There are two more towns in Northern Gujarat, both within a few
miles of Ahmedabad, which contributed the general stock of cloth and yarn
manufactured in the province; and of these Mandelso is still the earliest
authority. They are Mahmudabad and Nadiad, and they produced and
drove a roaring trade in varying qualities of cotton-thread. Nadiad also
manufactured cottons, but not in such abundance as other towns of Gujarat,
like Baroda and Broach.

In Central Gujarat, Baroda and Rajupura (the latter now a decayed,
insignificant village in the neighbourhood of Baroda) formed an important
town entirely given up to cotton manufacture. The people there were
chiefly weavers, dyers and other workers in cotton; and the fabrics they
produced were in texture the best in the province, for they were more close-
woven though somewhat narrower and shorter than those of Brqach.’®

The port of Cambay, famous as a manufacturing centre during the
early Mahomedan period (700-1526) also continued to flourish throughout

73. Abul Fazl : Ain-l-Akhari (1582 A. D.).

74. The word is preserved in the proverb hinting the incompatible : “ f^r^EWf

% 3K5rr35rfn ^ l ”

75. Mandelso. He refers to them as “Baftas”. “Sholas”, "Blue asmani/* etc. Baftas:
from Persian Bdftan, to weave; literally "a woven cloth. The fabric was a
speciality of Central Gujarat and particularly of Broach. The phrase "as
white as Baftas" corrupted into Gujarati ‘basta*, preserves the word even to-
day. Sholas were fine turban cloths; asmanl was blue coloured cloth.

See also, Thevenot ( 1660).

g4 CULTUItAL mSTORY OF GUJAttAt

this period (1526-1751); and although as a port it began to decline in import-
ance in the 17th century, after Surat became the ‘ Gateway of Mecca its
manufactiu'e did not. Besides Baftas, ‘Chautar’ (thickly woven fabrics of
four threads, used generally as bed-sheets), Cotonias or Sail-cloth, many-
coloured quilts” and pavilions of diverse sorts and colours, it produced many
fabrics both good and cheap — some of them, indeed, made of yam so fine,
that it could hardly be perceived by the naked eye. It is said they surpassed
any Holland cloth in fineness. Hamilton, in the first quarter of the 18th
century, found in Cambay an abundance of cotton, silk and fine embroidery
and lovely quilts costing £ 40 each.

Broach was the chief manufacturing centre for Bafta, which was sold
at Rs. 50 a piece, of 14 x i yards. The English and the Dutch had established
their factories there, freighting five or six ships every year with Bafta.”
Tavernier relates one interesting incident about the fine fabric of Broach.
He says, " Mahmad Ali Beg, when returning to Persia from his embassy to
India, presented Shah Shaffi II, with a cocoanut of the size of an ostrich’s
egg, enriched with precious stones, and when it was opened, a turban was
drawn from it, 60 cubits in length and of a muslin so fine that you would
scarcely know that it was that you had in your hand.” Such stuff,
obviously, must have been but rarely produced; but there is little doubt that
Gujarat could procure fabrics as fine in texture and superior in workmanship
as Bengal muslins.

The special charm of this fabric lay in the exquisite bleaching thereof
by the artisans, who first soaked it in lemon juice and then washed it in the
soft waters of the river Narmada. As lemons abounded in the neighbour-
hood of Broach, fabrics from Agra, Lahore and Bengal were brought there
in a crude condition for bleaching (Tavernier, i, 65; ii, 5-6; ii, 65).

The pieces of Bafta which cost anything from four to a hundred rupees
during his time, are mentioned a century earlier as ranging from to 50
rupees.” This not only shows the rise in prices due to the growing competition
with European companies, but also what a variety of cloth must have been

76. Probably Soznis — in which every square inch is padded with cotton, while it is
being woven. They are still made in Punjab and elsewhere.

77. Della Velle (1623) remarks that “the fabrics were packed up in very great
bales, each as big as Roman coach, and every piece of this cloth was little bigger
than one of our towels, which would be sold for not less than six crowns in
Italy, whence you may infer what wealth comes out of this small city alone,
which for compass and buildings is not greater than Siena of Tuscany, although
it is above three times populous, and you may also consider to what sum the
prices of costumes arise !” — ( Travels in India, Haklyt Society, pp, 60-61).

78. Abul Fazl (1582), Ain-l-Akhart, i, ain 32.

THE ECONOMIC FACTOR ; POPULATION AND OCCUPATION

85

produced by Broach looms ! Cotton yarn, also, was exported in large quantities
from Broach, and was bought by the Dutch to make the candle-wicks and stock-
ings, and to mix with the yarn for silken stuffs. It is recorded that from 10
to 20 maunds of yarn per day was produced all the year round, varying from
7 to 20 pice per seer. Bought at 14 d. per lb. in India, it realised 2/9 pence in
England. Both plain-reeled and cross-reeled were in demand. The price,
which was 8-10 mamudis (a Gujarat coin worth about 10 d. = 1/3 rupee) per
maund in 1609, went up to 20-40 mamudis per maund in 1657. Its export
to England began to decline only after 1740, when England had begun to
export cotton goods of her own manufacture. The town maintained its position
intact during the 18th century, as we can see from the accounts of Hamilton
(1727) and Stavorinus (1780), the latter of whom observes that various
kinds of piece goods, such as coarse and coloured cottons, as well as fine
chequered and striped doreds, were manufactured in Broach and its vicinity.

In Southern Gujarat, Surat was the chief port of the Mughal Empire
on the Western Coast, and merchants from the three continents thronged
its bazars to deal in the coveted commodities of the East, which were stored
there. Persian and Armenian traders, specially, were drawn to it by the
variety of excellent cloth manufactured there, chiefly various kinds of head-
dresses for women and cloths for veils, scarlet and white, of exceeding
fineness. The people seem to have excelled in the arts of weaving and
embroidery, judging by the rich huttdddrs and jdmddnis made by them. The
other towns where calicos, baftas and coarse fabrics were manufactured
were Gandevi, Navsari, and Balsar.

Gujarat maintained its supremacy in the matter of cotton manufactures
right up to the end of Mughal rule in the province, having no rival, then,
worth the name to contend with. But its supremacy in the art and monopoly
of the world’s trade were not long left unchallenged. Even before the end of
this period a rival industry in Lancashire had begun to encroach upon its
markets. In 1721, riots and tumult amongst the weavers of London resulted
in an Act of Parliament absolutely prohibiting the wear of Indian calicos,
which, by then, ha(^ come to be universally known, both for apparel and for
household use. This, combined with the invention of Crompton’s Mule in
1779, was the beginning of the end for India as far as economic prosperity was
concerned. But not even long years of competition between machine-made
and hand-woven cotton-cloth have succeeded in crushing entirely our home-
industry. The hand-loom is still at work in every district.’®

79, “The hand-made cotton fabrics compete in the market with an immense import
of machine-made goods; but the few fabrics for which the workers still hold a
reputation will probably continue for many years to be in steady demand/’
^Imperial Gazetteer, VIII, p. 324.

86

CULTURAL HISTORY OF GUJARAT

Of all the crafts of Gujarat, none is so popular as (1) that of the
Rangrez or Dyer, and (2) that of the Chhipagar or Calico-printer. Vari-
coloured cotton is most commonly used for raiment, and the more brilliant
its colours, the greater its appeal for the colour-loving people of this
sunshiny country. There is a bewildering variety of costume; each caste,
festive season or ceremonial occasion has distinctive colour all its own.
No wonder, therefore, that the dyer is never out of work ! Calico-
printing was a speciality of Ahmedabad, Baroda, Broach, Kaira and Surat,
and the popularity of the Chhipagar is still second only to that of the dyer.

‘Bandhani’ or ‘tie-dyeing’, a speciality of Gujarat, is a process which
is simple in theory but so laborious in practice that it could only have been
invented or pursued in a country where human labour was valued at an
abnormally low figure,” True; but the exquisite skill and craftsmanship it
requires make of it a fine art in itself. Portions of a fabric are tied up with
thread and soaked in some resistant material, such as fuller’s earth, castor
oil, bee’s-wax or gum, according to fixed design. The untied portion is then
dyed, while the tied portions are dipped in colours brighter than the ground.
Then the threads are unwound, or further portions are tied up and coloured
until the design is completed. When the threads are all unwound, a
beautiful, intricate pattern in multi-coloured dots is revealed. This art is
still extant in Rajputana, Gujarat, Kaccha and Saurastra : but Jamnagar
is the most famed for this sort of tie-dyeing. ‘ Bdndhanl wave-striped
‘Lahcriu’ and Red ‘C/iundadi’ are most suitable for feminine apparel and
great favourites with women; but men, too, use Bandhani for turbans.

Silk-weaving was exquisitely done, both with and without gold thread,
in Surat, Ahmedabad and Cambay. Tavernier says, that of the 22,000 bales
of raw silk produced at Kasimbazar, the 10,000 bales or thereabouts which
remained in the country after meeting foreign demands were brought to
Gujarat for being woven into silk fabrics. The MirdUi-Ahmadl refers not less
than three times to the manufacture, in Royal Workshops at Ahmedabad, of
the most expensive velvet pavilions and canopies worth a lac of rupees
each, which were sent on great occasions to the court of the Emperor, and
erected on the palace-grounds. Surat, especially, was famous for its silk and
gold carpets. Besides these, Satins, Taffetas and Patolas (silken stuff, and
all embellished with flowers) were made in great quantities at Surat, Ahme-
dabad and Patan.

The Patolas of Patan have been famous since the days of the Solan-
kls and even earlier. In ‘Patola’, bundles of multi-coloured warp and

80. Imperial Gazetteer j p. 187,

THE ECONOMIC FACTOR : POPULATION AND OCCUPATION

87

weft are so arranged that when woven, each colour appears at the exact
place where it is required by the exigencies of the pattern, and, what
is most curious, there is no ‘wrong’ side to the completed fabric. The
lovely wedding Sarees of Gujarat are made of Patola silk." The silk Sarees
of Saura^tra, especially the embroidered ones, can hardly be equalled
throughout India for finish and beauty of colouring. We can learn from con-
temporary poets that silk was made in Patan and rough quilts and blankets
of wool in Sorath. The popular saying “ qq ” shows

that the colour-printing on Patola silk never fades, even though the silk
itself be decayed.

The next craft to deserve mention is Embroidery, which is at its zenith
in Kaccha and Saurastra. “It is a peculiarity of all Indian needle-work,” ob-
serves the Imperial Gazetteer, “that the needle is pulled away from, not
drawn towards, the operator. The stitch used materially influences the
nature of the designs adopted. Curves are almost impossible with darn or
satin-stitches, but are easily made by chain-stitch (Sahkll-nu-Bharat). Darn
stitch is employed on coarser cotton, while chain-stitch is used on silk or
woollen fabrics. The former covers the material, the latter ornaments certain
portions of it.

Among the artistic kinds of embroidery produced in Gujarat and
Saurastra, may be mentioned ‘Ful-fcari’ and ‘Shisdddr’ (glass-worked).
In Shisadar Fulkaris, a striking effect is produced by the insertion of small
pieces of glass within the design, which are held in position by button-hole
stitches. This habit of using mirror-glass in embroidery is very wide-spread
in Northern and Peninsular Gujarat. In Saurastra one sees it on women’s
skirts and bodices and on the head-dresses of children. In Saurastra Chaklas,
the satin-stitch is mostly used in the needle work of the peasant, as the
chain-stitch is in that of the upper classes. These embroidered handkerchiefs
are made of coarse blue cotton cloth, so completely covered with purple
silk that hardly a trace of the original material is visible. Saurastra is one
of the great centres of chain-stitch work, and its brilliantly embroidered
skirts, bodices, handkerchiefs and curtains are deservedly admired; but the
best chain work in India is done in Bhuj, the capital of Kaccha.

81 . “gqt I qw i

••• ••• •••

II”

‘Loba^i’ is from Sanskrit Loman— hair; hence hair of §hcep and goats woven
into a cloth, mostly used by cowherds,

88

CCLTUSAL HlSTOmr or GUJARAT

Kiasuh borders, or Kora, which are sewn on the Sarees and other
garments were produced in profusion in Surat and Ahmedabad.

Carpet-weaving, according to the reports of old travellers, flourished
in the ancient city of Cambay. This art, like many others, was introduced
from Persia.*

It would be in the fitness of things to end this chapter with a quotation
from Padre Ovington (1690) who says ; “The Indians (meaning the
Gujaratis) are in many things of matchless ingenuity in their several
implements and admirable mimics of whatever they affect to copy after.
The Bania by the strength of his brain only will sum up his accounts with
equal exactness and quicker dispatch than the readiest arithmetician can
with his pen. The weavers of silk, exactly imitate the nicest and the most
beautiful patterns that are brought from Europe; and the very ship-carpenter
at Surat will take the model of any English vessel, in all the curiosity
of its building, and the most artificial instances of workmanship about it,
whether they are proper for the convenience of burthen or of quick sailing,
as if they had been the first contrivers.”*

82. See, Kavi Dalpatram’s poem, with the refrain

“Wsfl sr: ft? »n? ^ 311?%”—

originally composed for the Hope Reading Series. See also Navalram, in the
poem named “Gujarat-ni-Musafari” in Naval Garhavali.

83. SaurSsp^ians are described as robbers and thieves in old books. Princep (India/u
Antiquities, Vol. II, p. 425) interprets these allusions as meaning, “exploiters
in trade".

Cf. also the description of Gujarat given in “Nabhinandanajinoddhara
Prabandha ” ( 14th century).

“ §3 3j^3 i '

One Vyahkatadhvari, the author of ft^g<>n?i^^ (circa 1640), a poet hailing from
Telang in the Deccan, being struck with the wealth of the Gujaratis during the
Mughul supremacy, writes in glowing terms about their trade and enterprise,
and their business in jewellery which brings them immense wealth. It may be
noted here that Gujarati jewellers had almost monopolized then, as now, the
trade in diamonds, pearls and other precious stones which were exported from
Surat to the Portuguese ports in Europe.

Accordingly we find in Vinaycandra’s Kdvya-siksa (12th century MSS.
in Oriental Institute, Baroda) that the Gujaratis are called “looters of
wealth”, because of the fat profits they obtained from business. (Cf.

* e

gsro I)

Chapter 4

THE TEMPORAL FACTOR :

POLITICAL HERITAGE-LAW AND GOVERNMENT

I

W E now review the political heritage of Gujarat, which will be, so to
say, a chronological narrative of the political vicissitudes of the land
of Gujarat.

The state starts its work of nation-making at some convenient
geographical point which serves as a natural nucleus for its expansion. This
done, communication is established between all parts of the consolidated
territory by means of roads; to be followed later on, by spiritual bonds, which
further cement the unity already created. Under the Mughal Viceroys, for
instance, a uniform law obtained throughout Gujarat, uniting men’s minds
in a common adherence to common standards of conduct.

The State, it is believed, precedes and moulds the Society. The
language of the governing classes, for example, usually becomes the language
of the governed. Persian was established as the court-language of Gujarat
at the instance of Todar Mai, which accounts for the Persian, Arabic and
Urdu words, an important part of the Gujarati vocabulary.

The State, of course, does not create the national language, but it can
turn a local dialect into a national possession, as was done with Apabhrarhsa
by Siddharaja.* Apabhrarhsa was the national language of Gujaratis
in the 11th and 12th centuries A. D. Bhoja, in his Sarasvati-Kanthdhharana
refers to the partiality of the Gurjaras in general for Apabhrarhsa, ‘‘aurffitH
^ i ” Rajasekhara, also, observes in his Kdivya Mimdmsd

that the people of Lhta are so fond of Prakrt that they hate Sanskit, while
the people of northern Gujarat and Saurastra speak Sanskrt, embellished
with a dash of Apabhrarhsa i) etc.

1. Siddharaja was instrumental in getting a i^tandard grammar of Apabhrarhsa
composed by Hemacandra Suri, for use in the schools in Gujarat, supplanting
those already in use. This gave a great impetus to the study of this particular
variety of Prakrt, and a regular literature sprang up, both prose and poetry.
Vide “Dvasraya Kdvya", the verse “ ” — etc.

12

90

CULTURAL BISTORT OF GUJARAT

Out of this Apabhraihsa was evolved ancient Gujariti, or Old Western
Rajasthani (as scholars name it), which was spoken both by the people of
southern Rajputana and the people of Gujarat. But in the beginning of the
16th century, a re-adjustment of the Subhas (provinces) under Akbar gave
rise to a bifurcation in Old Western Rajasthani; and Mediaeval Gujarati came
into being — a language entirely different from Marwadi, also an offspring
of Western Rajasthani, which was, and still is, spoken in Northern Gujarit.

II

. The history of political background might, with convenience, be divided
into four periods, as under : —

(i) The earlier period, 300 B.C. to 789 A. D. (the probable date of the
fall of Valabhipura).

(ii) The rule of the Anhilwad kings, from the reign of Vanaraja* (880 A.D.
Saka Sam vat 802), the founder of the city of that name, to the defeat of
Karna Vaghela in 1297 A. D., marking the end of paramount Hindu
rule in Gujarat, at the hands of the Mahomedans.

(iii) The period of Mahomedan rule upto 1752 A. D., when the Gaekwad
took Ahmedabad, the Mahomedan capital of Gujarat, and the last
vestige of Mughal supremacy had disappeared; and

(iv) The Mixed rule of Peshwa and Gaekwad, the Gaekwad remaining
supreme, until the annexation of the Peshwa’s territories in Gujarat
by the British in 1818 A. D.

(i) The Early Period (300 B. C. to 789 A. D.)

The history of Gujarat began in the very dim past, when a flourishing
trade existed between it and the Persian Gulf as well as the Arabian coast.
We have no records unfortunately of the ages preceding Candragupta
Maurya’s conquest of the country in about 300 B. C., which is the date of
the authentic history of Gujarat. The ancient inscription regarding lake
Sudarsana (150 A. D.) ascribes certain repairs and improvements to a
brother-in-law of Candragupta’s, and to a Yavana governor of Asoka.

After the decay of the Maurya Empire, “some of the Graeco-Bactrian
princes seem to have exercised a fitful influence over Saurastra and
part of mainland of Gujarat. Menander (Milinda) (150B. C.), a lover of
Buddhism, is said to have ruled in Sindh and Saurastra. The Bactrians, in
their turn, gave way before the powerful Scythians from Central Asia.

• See, H. G. Shastri, “The Problem of the Chronology of Cavadti Kings”
Indian History Congress, Ahmedabad Session, 1955,

THE TEMPOKAL FACTOR : POLITICAL HERITAGE-LAW AND GOVERNMENT 91

These Western Satrap or Ksatrapa chiefs governed Gujarat and Malwa
during the first century A. D., benefiting by the trade with Rome, which
sprang up about 40 A. D. and brought immense and steadily increasing
wealth to the cities of the West Coast; but came into collision with the
powerful Andhra dynasty of the Deccani Satavahanas. The possessions
of Nahapana, one of the greatest of these Western Ksatrapas, included
the Western part of the Deccan in addition to Gujarat and Malwa. He
was unquestionably the ruler of a flourishing kingdom, extending from
Mandsor in the north to Dahanu in the south, the eastern boundary includ-
ing Nasik and the Western Saurastra.

This king was defeated by Gautamiputra Satakarni, the powerful
Andhra king, in about 126 A. D., and the power of the Ksatrapas was broken.
Northern Gujarat was then governed by a Ksatrapa who sprang from a differ-
ent stock named Castan, whose capital was Ujjayini, and whose descendants
became independent, called themselves Maha-Ksatrapas, and ruled up to very
nearly the end of the fourth century A. D.

The greatest Ksatrapa was Rudradaman, grandson of Castana, a mighty
conqueror and lord of Anarta, Saurastra, Svabhra, Maru, Kaccha, Sindhu,
Sauvira, Aparanta, Nisada and other territories. He recovered from the
Andhra ruler Gautamiputra Satakarni (his son-in-law) the provinces of
Western Deccan and Kohkan, and was the author of the famous inscription at
Girnar (our chief authority for history of Gujarat from 300 B.C, to 2nd Century
A.D.), wherein he described himself as one “who took and kept to the end
of his life the vow to stop the killing of men except in battle^. He appears to
have been a wise and capable ruler, for it is recorded that he expended on
his public works “a great amount of money from his own treasury, without
oppressing the people of the town and the country by the exacting of
(special) taxes, forced labour and gifts“.

Candragupta II of Pataliputra overthrew the Ksatrapas and took
Gujarat in C. 400 A.D. The early Ksatrapas, it would seem, were unpopular
with the natives because of their strange ways and gods, but the Greek
Ksatrapas were Hindus by religion, were distinguished patrons of the Indian
religions, and used classical Sanskrt in their official and inscriptional
records. Nevertheless, as Sakas, they continued to be unpopular, and so,
when the last Ksatrapa of Malwa, Gujarat £md Saurastra was overthrown
by the northern emperor Candragupta II (Vikramaditya), the latter took
the title of “the foe of the Sakas’’ (Sakdri), the designation of the Vikrama-
ditya of Indian Legend. After Candragupta II, Kumaragupta added
Saurastra to Gujarat and Skandagupta (454-470 A. D.) added Kaccha to
both. Malwa, Kaccha and Gujarat continued to be ruled by the Gupta

94

CULTURAL HISTORY OF GUJARAf

The people utilised the sea, and were traders by profession. Population is
dense and the establishments are rich and well supplied with materials.”

The city of Valabhipura was a place of great wealth when visited by
Hiuen Tsang in the 7th century, and was famous in Buddhist church-history
as having been the residence of two distinguished teachers Gunamati and
Sthiramati, in the 6th century. I-tsing, a junior contemporary of Hiuen
Tsang, tells us that ‘*in his time Nalanda in South Bihar and Valabhi were the
two places in India which deserved comparison with most famous centres of
learning in China, and were frequented by crowds of eager students, who
commonly devoted two or three years to attendance at lectures on Buddhistic
philosophy.” After the overthrow of Valabhipura its place as the chief city
of Western India was taken by Anhilwad (Naharwala or Patan) which re-
tained honour until 1412 A. D., when it was superseded by Ahmedabad.
The Calukyas of Badami were also the foes of Broach Gurjaras (who ruled
southern Gujarat till about 692 A. D., as known from a copper-plate from
Surat), with whom they had to fight.

In the beginning of the 8th century which saw the entrance of the
Mahomedans into Indian politics, the Tajikas or Arabs were a fresh foe
which the Gurjaras had to encounter. These Arabs, taking advantage of
the footing they had gained in Sindh in 722 A. D., used to make frequent
raids in all the neighbouring countries: Marwad, Maliba (Malwa), Barus
(Broach), Uzani (Ujjain), Bhinnmal and Jurz (Gujarat); and they over-
ran the greater part of Gujarat and Saurastra, having defeated Gurjaras
along with the Saindhavas, Cavotakas, Mauryas and the people of Saura-
stra. Their rising power led to the overthrow of the Broach Gurjara
dynasty as well, also, to the sack of Valabhipura, a little later.

During the reign of Vikramaditya I, the son of Pulakesi II (during
whose reign Hiuen Tsang visited Maharastra), the paramount sovereign of
the country “between the three seas”, a branch of the Calukya dynasty was
founded in Southern Gujarat or Lata with Navasari as the capital. This
Pulakesi was so powerful as to vanquish an army of Tajikas or Arabs
(between 711 A. D. and 753 A. D.) which had destroyed the Saindhava,
Kaccha, Saurastra, Cavotaka, Maurya, Gurjara and other kings and on its
way to Daksinapatha to conquer the Southern kings, had come to Navasari
to reduce that country first. But after a few decades, the sovereignty of
the country passed into the hands of the Rastrakutas.

Almost simultaneously the Gurjaras of Rajputana and Kanauj who
were further styled ‘Pratihmras’ came into prominence, whose sway over
southern Gujarat however had slackened, owing to the rise of powerful

T&MPOBAt FACTOR; FOUTICAL BERITAOR-LAW AiO) GOVxBNBiSNf .95

dynasties in the Deccan, as known from an inscription that hing

Dantidurga’s (745 A. D.) elephants rent asunder the banks of the river Mahi
and Narmada”. Govind III, also called ‘Jagattuhga’ (780-815 A. D ), the
greatest of the Ra^ti^akutas, conquered many countries in the north including
Malwa and Lata or southern Gujarat, appointing a separate governor for the
latter — the first being his brother Indraraja, whose descendants exercised
direct sway over Gujarat upto 974 A. D,, quite independently of the main
Deccan Rastrakutas, when in that year Tailapa of Northein Calukya clan
conquered the last king.

The balance of power between the Gurjaras and the Rastrakutas lasted
for about two centuries (750-950 A. D.). Neither kingdom was strong enough
to encroach to any large extent upon the territory of the other — a state of
things to which the dissensions between the Ra^tiakutas of the main line and
the branch that ruled in Gujarat may have contributed. These Ra^t^akuta
kings were by religion Saivites, though later kings appear to have an inclina-
tion towards Jainism.

It is remarkable that in spite of continuous wars, both the Rastrakuta
and the Gurjara kingdoms enjoyed great prosperity. Arab travellers inform
us that “in their territory property was secure, theft or robbery was unknown,
commerce was encouraged and foreigners were treated with consideration
and respect.” Ibn Haukal (976 A. D.) writes that, “in the tongue of land
from Kambaya (Cambay) to Sainpur (Chaul) the villages lie close to one an-
other and there is much land under cultivation.” The trade with the Persian
Gulf revived, and brought with it an influx of Parsi refugees (806 A. D.
and 825 A.D.), who found a ready welcome at the hands of chiefs who
honoured impartially Siva, Buddha and Jina. But this revival of trade
was attended with a great outburst of piracy, in which the daring sailors of
Western Saurastra took a leading part.

(ii) The Anhilwad Kings (810-1297 A. D.)

From the 6th'century A. D. foreigners had poured into northern India.
But from the 8th to the 12th century A. D., the country was left strangely —
to its own devices, being comparatively free from foreign invasions. The
Cavadas, apparently a branch off the Capotkatas, or Capa of Bhinnmal
(supposed to have sprung from the Capa or bow of Siva) taking advantage
of the confusion caused by the Mahomedan raids, and aided by the Gurjaras
of Bhinnmal, founded the kingdom of Anhilwad (810 A. D.) which, for the
next fifty years extended all over Rajputana and Malwa, threatened Bengal,
and eventually shifted its centre to Kanauj.

96

tvtrvtiAL assToitv or mHAAAf

There was a small chiefship of Capas at Paficasar and the last chief, it
is said, was killed by some imknown assailant called Bh&vada. His queen,
wandering in a forest, gave birth to a posthumous son, who later became
famous as Vanaraja (King of the Forest)/ Stalwart and fearless, he started
life as a free*booter. A convoy of treasure amounting to 24 lakhs of silver
drammas, falling into his hands on its way to Kanyakubja", to which the
country was subject, he was enabled to enlist an army and foimd a capital—
Anhilwad Patan — in the Sarasvata Mandal (the region of the river Sarasvat!)
in Northern Gujarat.

These Cavadas, although yet in fact always independent in name,
were subordinate to Kanauj, though the Gurjara empire manifested at this
period, a tendency to break up into separate states. Whether Vanaraja
had to fight the Arabs is not known; but it is certain" that the Arabs
did fall foul of, and defeat, some Capa king during their attempted
invasion of the Deccan. Vanaraja*.s son Yogaraja seems to have been a
subordinate chief to Mihira Bhoja, the then emperor of Kanauj. Except
for some names and dates, derived from the later Jaina Prabandha-
karas, we have imfortunately but little information regarding these Cavadas
of Patan, probably because they remained feudatories of Kanauj, and
tolerably free from warfare with the neighbouring kings. They appear to
have been Saivas like almost all the prominent Rajaputs of the time, and,
later on, patrons of Jainism. A minor Chapa branch at Vardhamana
(Wadhwan) is known to have ruled over Sorath.'

Mularaja Solanki was the founder of the Calukya dynasty in
Anhilwad. It is certain he was no adventurer as some say, because he is

4. Vanaraja Prabandfia.

5. Pahcasar was destroyed, not by Bhuvada, but by the Arabs, in about 810
A. D., nor was Bhuvada the same Bhuvanaditya Calukya of Badaml, as the
Calukya capital of Kalyao was not founded until 1U53. It has been suggest-
ed (Bombay Gazetteer, Vol. 1, p. 150, 156, II, p. 427 foot-note 3) that Kanya*
kubja is a mistake for Karpakubja, an old name of Junagadh.

— H. G. Rawlinson’s Note, Rdtamdld, I, page 36.

6. Cf. The Navsari grant.

7. For details see Mm. GauriSankar Oza’s article on “ JJTOS ^ sfhc ^

tIsiraSt ifil ”

An inscription grant dated 917 A. D., of Dharapi Varaha’s, a dependent
under Mahlpaladeva of Kanauj, to an Acirya of the Amardaka Santana (Saiva
sect) showing that in Gujarfit at that time Siva worship was quite common,
and these Saiva ascetics lived in Mathas built for them, much as the Buddhists
used to live in Sahgharams.

THE TEMPORAL FACTOR : POLITICAL HERITAGE-LAW AND GOVERNMENT 97

mentioned as * Maharajadhiraja’ (king of kings) in copper-plates. Probably
there was misrule in the country and Mularaja, ruler in some part of Norths
ern Rajputana, acquired the kingdom by force of arms and restored order.
He ruled justly and vigorously from 942-997 A. D.** He had, of course, to
fight with his kingly neighbours, the rulers, for instance, of Kaccha and Sindh;
he is said to have defeated one Grharipu who was assisted by Khengar, king
of Kaccha and the Arabs from Sindh, and thus obtained possession of
Somanath. Mularaja had also to fight Vigraharaja of Sambhar from the
North, and Barappa of Lata from the south of Gujarat. The latter was, most
probably, a general of king Tailapa of Karnataka, Lata being a dependency
of Karnataka, and is said to have been killed in battle. All that Mularaja ori-
ginally acquired, however, was the ‘ Sarasvata Mandala : it was only towards
the middle of the twelth century that the Calukya records began to refer to
this land as ‘Gurjarabhumi’“', and their kings as the ^ kings of Gurjara-
bhumi^ Inheriting Anhilwad from his mother, he had extended its frontiers
in all directions. Kaccha and Sorath came under his sway; his standards flew
victoriously beyond the Narmada; his supremacy was acknowledged by the
Paramara prince of Acalgadh on Mount Abu; and under him the chivalrous
knight-errants of Marwad and Northern India followed, for the first time,
the banners of Gurjara Rastra.

The declining years of Mularaja’s life were dedicated to religion. He
built a Siva temple at Patan. He invited learned Brahmins from different
parts of India, and settled them at Siddhapura and elsewhere, bestowing lands
and villages upon them. Many Brahmins of Gujarat, such as the Audicyas
and Gaudas claim to have entered Gujarat as his guests. Mularaja was
succeeded by his son Camunda (998-1010) who killed Sindhuraja of Malwa
in battle.” ‘'He was attenuated in person and yellow in his complexion, very
fond of eating and drinking, and of handsome dress. He cultivated good
trees in his garden, but he built wells and tanks. He had no enemy but
the Yavana.”

Bhima I, the grandson of Camunda, was a powerful king, ruled long
(43 years) and was a contemporary of king Bhoja of Malwa and king Karna
of Cedis (C. P.), both strong and able rulers. Kulacandra, a Jaina general

8. The date of Mularaja’s accession is settled by the Sambhar inscription (pub-
lished in the Annual Report for 1926 of the Sardar Museum, Jodhpur) as
Samvat 998 (942 A. D.).

9. Ind, Ant, Vol. VI.

10. Ind. Ant, Vol. VI, No. 8, dated Samvat 1280.

11. The Vadanagar Prasasti of Kumarapala.

CG.7

CULTURAL HISTORY OF GUJARAT

of Bhoja once invaded Gujarat in Bhima’s absence, occupied his capital
Anhilwad, and looted it so thoroughly that the sack of Kulacandra became
proverbial. Bhima, with his cavalry, retorted by a sudden raid on Dhara,
captured it and plundered it. But Bhima and Bhoja soon made friends
again, each having his Agent at the court of the other,*® In spite

of his successes in Malwa, however, Bhima was not entitled to be called
lord of Malava (3Tcrf^?RPT). It is said that Karna of Cedi was presented
with a golden palanquin by Bhoja whom he had defeated in battle; and
Bhima, defeating both Bhoja and Karna, seized the golden palanquin and
presented it to his tutelary deity, Somanath of Prabhasa Pattan.

Be that as it may, it is certain that all the three kings were equals in
power and quite good friends when they were not fighting one another. It
was during Bhima’s reign that the “sun of the Rajputs began to decline
before the Muslim crescent, when a strange and furious invader burst upon
the plains of India, and ancient dynasties were shaken/*

The town of Somanath being a port of call for ships sailing between
Africa and China, its fame was carried to distant countries by the sailors, who
probably looked upon it as their patron god. This led Mahmud to undertake
the sack of Somanath (1026 A. D,). Bhima, it is said, took refuge in the fort
of Kan^hakot in Kaccha, only attacking Mahmud*s army when it turned
homeward, laden with booty, and compelling it to change its route, and
driving Mahmud into the Sindh desert where no less than a tenth of his
followers perished of fatigue and starvation.*^

Bhima ruled well and refused pardon to the crimes of incontinence.
He was clever at apprehending thieves and he punished them so that

12. Damodara, an envoy of A^ihilwad, has been described as a "witty and clever
diplomat”.

13. An Inscription at Somanath records that Bhima built a stone-temple for
Somanath in the place of the wooden one which had existed before, and king
Bhoja of Mfilwa also is said to have built a similar temple for Somanath (Vide
l/depuro Prasas/i, Epi. II, p. 22), from which we conclude that this temple was
the joint work of Bhoja and Bhima.

14. The Sultan is said to have marched from Multan and thence along the low
ridge that traverses the fort of Jaisalmer to' Anhilwad Patap. From Pata^i
he proceeded to Mudhera and then straight across Saura^ti'a peninsula to Del-
wada and Somanath.

— See Life and Times of Sultan Mahumad of Ghazna by Dr. Mahumad Nazim
(1931), p. 218.

— See also The Cambridge History of India, Vol. I, p. 23. He is said to have
returned via Kaccha, Sindh and Multan fearing to be intercepted by Bhoja of
Malwa, on his way back.

THE TEMPORAL FACTOR : POLITICAL HERITAGE-LAW AND GOVI»NMENT 90

offences of depredation diminished in his reign. He so cherished life that
even the wolf in the forest was restrained from killing.’*^ His generous
refusal to accept his share of land-produce from his cultivators in a time of
scarcity, at the instance of his prince Mularaja has already been referred to.”
Bhima’s son Karna (1064-1094) had a peaceful reign, with but few
martial adventures. He built a large reservoir called ' Karna Sagar ’ and
his mother Udayamati built a step-well in Patan which was known as
‘ Rani’s Vava\ He also founded a city by subduing one of the Mewasi
chiefs — Asa Bhil, named it ‘Karnavati’, and made it his second capital.
This city is the ancient site of modern Ahmedabad. He built many temples
to Siva and Durga, and according to the Hammlra^Carita he died in a
battle with Dussala of Sakambhari. Karna Solahki was the first ruler of
Gujarat on record to put a curb on the wild tribes between the south of
Anhilwad and north of Sabarmati— the Bhils and Kolis — thus securing in-
ternal peace in his kingdom. His encouragement of a painter from the South
led to his marriage with Minaldevi, a princess of the Kadaihba family of
Karnataka, for beauty portrayed by the skilful artist completely ravished
his heart. Their son, the illustrious Siddharaja Jayasirhha was a minor
when Karna died; and the widowed queen carried on the Government with
the aid of capable devoted ministers.

Siddharaja turned out to be the most powerful of all the Calukyas in
Gujarat. He was a great builder, and every ancient structure in Gujarat is
popularly attributed to him. He enlarged the famous ‘ Rudra Mahalaya ’
temple of Siva at Siddhapura now mostly in ruins and the Sahasralinga-Lake
at Patan. He was also a notable warrior. He carried on a war with Malwa
which lasted for twelve years, beginning with an invasion of Malwa in the
reign of Naravarman, and ending with the defeat and imprisonment of
Yasovarman, his son. Malwa and Gujarat had long been enemies and
there had been constant fighting between them since the days of Naravar-
man (1133 A. D.)." Yasovarman, who had been captured with his family,
is said to have been kept in a wooden cage in Anhilwad. “ He annexed

15. Dwdsraya Kdvya.

16. The incident tells us that the cultivator of Gujarat was then in character much
as he is now as regards stubbornness when assailed with demands, as well as
sensibility to kindness. — Rasa Mala I, p. 99.

17. The relations between Gujarat and Malw’a, even during the times of the
Sultans of Ahmedabad are handed down to us in two proverbs:

t JR ik ^

JR 5 JTr«s^ 5n3, I'll ?i^Ji JR? 5 H

18. This seems to be true, as it is mentioned in an inscription of Jayasimha him-
self. — Ind. Ant, X, p. 109.

100

CULTURAL HISTORY OF GUJARAT

Malwa and sent a Jaina minister to govern it. His title (hiruda) 'Avantt-
natha* proves that a large part of Malwa, with Ujjayini and Dhara remained
for some time in the possession of the Calukyas. With the annexation of
Malwa, its possessions which included the fort of Citod, also passed into
the hands of the Solahkls.'’

The imprisoned Yasovarman, however, contrived to escape after a
while and, aided by a Cauhana king of Ajmer, to regain some part of his
dominions. Also, he made his peace with Jayasimha.

Siddharaja after an attack on Dhara, went on and fought Madanpala
Candela and extracted tribute from him. From an inscription it appears
that he also conquered and annexed Kaccha, ruling it through a governor.
Saivite tendencies brought the Solahkis into collision with the Cudasamas of
Girnar (940-1125 A. D.) who commanded the road to Somanath Patan, the
place of pilgrimage. Ra Khehgar I, a descendant of Grharipu, was a heredi-
tary enemy of the Solahkis. Ra Khehgar II (1098-1125 A. D.) was defeated
and killed by Siddharaja, who then sent one Sajjan as Viceroy to the annex-
ed territory of Junagadh. He is also called ‘Barharaka Jisnu’ in inscrip-
tions, having conquered Barharaka reputed to be the king of demons
or devils in legends, which, it is said, gave him such power over devils and
goblins that he became practically omnipotent. It is suggested that the ‘ Bar-
baras ’ of the Hindu Puranas, or the ‘Babarias’ who settled in south
Kathiawar, may be identified with the Berbers, some non- Aryan tribe from
North India or Arabia. It is quite possible that Siddharaja defeated a formi-
dable Arab invasion from Sindh.'"

Jayasithha was, like Bhoja, a patron of learning; and many great
Pandits, both Jaina and Hindu, found encouragement at his court. Stories
are told of his nocturnal ramblings in disguise, and of his in cognito visits to
the theatre or to domestic entertainments, much like the great Vikrama, the

19. An inscription of V. S. 1207 obtained from Citod, described the victory of

Kumarapala, the successor of Siddharaja, over An;joraja of Sapadalak$a
(Ajmer); and how he went to see Citod, and there gave' away one village for
the maintenance of a Siva temple. Another .fragmentary inscription recently
found at the same place and brought to light by Pandit Gaurisapkar Oza, states
that the fort of Chitod belonged to Kumarapala and a governor was stationed
there by him. It remained a possession of the Solankis until it was finally
wrested from Ajayapala Solahki by Samantasiihha of Mewad in 1230-1233
Samvat.— See Gaurisankar Oza’s Address on ‘ tR gsRRTRr

as President, Historical section. Ninth Gujarati Sahitya

Parishad, 1928.

20. C. V. Vaidya, p. 199.

THE TEMPORAL FACTOR : POLITICAL HERITAGE-LAW AND GOVERNMENT IQl

pliilantliropist. The greatest among the Pan^ts who graced his court was
Eemacandra, whose ‘Grammar’ was, by royal order, “placed upon the head
of one of the royal elephants”, and, with due pomp and ceremony, “conveyed
to the treasury of the palace.” Foremost amongst the poets and warriors
that flocked to the court of Siddharaja was Jagaddeva Paramar, a prince of
the Kadamba family of Goa.

Jayasiihha, then, was surely most powerful, most religious and most
generous. Requested by his mother to lighten the burden of tax that lay
heavy upon pilgrims bound for Somanath, he remitted it altogether cheer*
fully, sacriflcing an income of about one lakh of rupees. It is also said that
he paid off the debts of all the debtors in his kingdom, and thus deserved to
be called “Cakravartin”, Emperor and “Saka Karta”, or “Founder of an
Era”; for it is a common belief in India that the founder of an era must
pay off the debts of all the debtors in his kingdom.”

His reign saw the kingdom at the very height of its glory. He is usually
described in the inscriptions of his successors as “Avantinatha”, “Tribhuvana
Ganda”, “Barbarakajisnu”, and “Siddha Cakravartin”. Acalgadh and
Candravati to the north, Modhera and Jinjuvada to the west, Campaner and
Dabhoi to the east, were the pillars of his throne. Anhilwad was in' his reign,
the richest town in India, and marvellous stories are told of its markets
and mints, its palaces and schools, and its gardens, where learned men
sat under blossoming trees and discussed philosophy and religion. “The
extent of his reign included not only Sorath and Malwa, but Kaccha and lands
beyond, perhaps reaching to the Indus, the Deccan to the confines of the
Kolhapur State and in the north to the Ganges and the Himalayas.”

Siddharaja having no son to follow him, perpetuated his glory in
magniflcent edifices and reservoirs all over Sorath and Gujarat which,
though in ruins, excite, to this day, the wonder of the rustic and the
admiration of the student of ancient history. This also was the reason why
he caused to be written the annals of his race.

Siddharaja leaving no son, the succession went to Kiunarapala, a
great-grandson of Bhimadeva. The succession naturally was contested and
royal outsiders intervened in the quarrel. Kumarapala, however, aided by
his Jaina ministers, defeated Arnoraja of Ajmer and Ballala of Malwa.
Like his predecessors, Kumarapala ruled justly and wisely for 30 years
(1143-1173 A.D.). He had known adversity, which is the finest soil for the

f

21. The last inscription of his Simha era is probably the Veraval inscription
(Bhdvnagar Inscriptions, p. 214) which gives its date in four eras, evidently
current in Gujarat, viz. Vikram 1320, Valabhi 945, Simha 151, and Hijri 642
indicating four important rules in succession.

102

CULTURAL HISTORY OF GUJARAT

flowers of understanding and compassion; for, as a possible successor, he
had come under the displeasure of Siddharaja, and leaving Gujarat, had
travelled in Southern and Eastern countries as advised by Hemacandra,
who is said to have foretold his greatness. This accounts for his extreme
reverence for that Jaina Pandit, and his regard for Jainism. His self-
restraint and moral excellence may be attributed to the influence of Jaina
philosophy. In the beginning, Kumarapala had some trouble with the
courtiers who had served Jayasirhha, and his firmness in dealing with them
led to the revolt of Vahad, one of the sons of the minister Udayana, who
had been a special favourite with Siddharaja. Corrupting the officers of
Kumarapala, this Vahad (or Vagbhatta) incited the Sapadalaksa (or
Sakarhbhari) king Anaka to invade Gujarat. During the battle which
followed, Kumarapala saw his captains deserting him; but, driving his
elephant into the lines, he encountered and captured Vahad, killed Anaka
(or Arnoraja) and thus turned imminent defeat into victory,

Hemacandra used his great influence over the king with great
adroitness. Kumarapala, like his predecessor, was a great builder, and
many Jaina vihdras are attributed to him or his ministers. It is said that it
was Hemacandra who advised him to re-build the temple of Somanath as an
act of supreme merit, and the king built the temple in stone.® Hemacandra
affected approval of Kumarapala’s undertaking to restore the temple, but
suggested that the king’s merit would be greatly enhanced by abstinence,
during the restoration, from meat-eating, wine and the company of women.
Kumarapala agreed; and for two years observed the vow; then, the temple
restored, he went there and worshipped the god, and even Hemacandra bowed
to the idol. In spite of his reverence for his preceptor and the precepts of
Jainism, however, there is nothing to show that Kumarapala ever turned
Jaina, for the inscriptions of his time and of those of his successors always
described him as ‘‘prospering through the favour of Siva” ®

22. Bhoja of MMwa, Bhima and Jayasimha, it will be remembered are all credited
with building the temple of Somanath. The inscription at Somanath dated
1196 A. D. credits a Brahmin ascetic Bhava Brhaspati, a saint of Lakulisa sect,
with having induced the kings of Gujarat to J)uild this temple; but the Jaina
chroniclers credit Hemacandra with having- induced Kumarapala. We may
give credit to both, since Kumarapala honoured both Hindu and Jaina saints
and savants.

23. The Jaina authors of Kumarapala Pratihodhaf Moliapardjaya and Prdkft
Dwdsraya, however, havenodoubt that Kumarapala was a devout Jaina convert.
There is certainly reason to believe that Kumarapala was so far impressed
laterly with the doctrine of Ahirhsd specially preached by Jainism, that he,
like Har^a, suppressed the slaughter of animals altogether, and even gave

THB TEMPORAL FACTOR : POLITICAL HERITAGE-LAW AND GOVERNMENT IQS

Kumarapala^s reign, except for just a little while in the beginning,
when he had to oppose the Sakambharl prince, was a period of general peace
and prosperity; and the wealthy Jainas built temples in all the principal
towns as well as in their Tirthas.

Kumarapala died without a male issue and his nephew Ajayadeva
or Ajayapala came to the throne. He was violent in temper and cruelly
oppressed not only the Jainas, but even his Hindu ministers. The Sah-
karacarya, the high priest of the Saivites, had come to Gujarat before
Kumarapala’s death, and, doubtless, stirred up the zeal of his sect against
the Jainas, and Ajayadeva may have been influenced by this. Whatever it
may be, he began his reign by a merciless persecution of some of the
prominent Sravakas; their preceptor, Ramacandra Suri“ was tortured to
death; the nobles Amrabhatta and Kapardin — favourites with his uncle —
were destroyed. For twelve years, Puritan Jainism had banished vices from
the kingdom of Kumarapala;*' but after Kumarapala’s death, its influence in
the state declined.

Ajayapala was succeeded by his small son Mularaja (1176-1178 A. D.)
whose mother, Naikadevi (a daughter of a Parmardi Kadamba king in
Karnataka, chaste, valorous, fearless of death, as Rajput women are known
to be), acted as Regent during his minority, and defeated Mahmud Ghori»
who invaded Gujarat just at that time, evidently leading the forces of
Gujarat against the Gazni king.® This defeat saved Gujarat from the grip
of the Muslims for a hundred years more, and established the reputation
of the kingdom of Nahrwala for valour.

strained water to his honscs and elephants. Inscriptions show that animal-
slaughter was prohibited even by Kumarapala’s subordinate kings on certain
days sacred to the Jainas (Vide, Bhdvnagar Inscriptions, page 206) and that a
fine of five drammas was imposed for breach of this rule; these are generally
known as (Amari Gho§aoa).

24. A fragment of his Vdayana Vihdra Prasasti (Verses 71-105) has been discovered
by me from Dholka: the last lines of Verse 105 being

sRrfeRgwffJwt ii ”

25. Mohapardiaya (Gaekwad Oriental Series, No. XI).

26. The queen ‘ took in her lap the child king, maintaining a struggle at a hill’
Though to Bala (child) Mularaja belongs the credit of being ‘*the conquerer of
theGurjan (Ghazni)” according to one inscription

(Ind. Ant., VI, page 194), another inscription gives the credit to his mother—

etc— Versvai

Inscription in Bhdvnagar Inscriptions, page 24.

104

CULTURAL HISTORY OF GUJARAT

Bhlmall, nicknamed “Bholo” but calling himself the ‘‘second” or
“new (Abhinava) Siddharaja”, and assuming the grandiloquent title of
“Cakravarti”, ruled for 63 years (1178-1241 A. D.). His nobles and feuda-
tories acknowledged him as king of Anhilwad, but usurped his power none
the less; for he was weak and profligate, entirely unfit to cope with his
enemies — within and without. He, therefore, made Lavanaprasada, the
grandson of Kumarapala’s maternal aunt, his Sarvesvara (Vice-Regent) in
the hope of reclaiming the lost splendour of his kingdom. Lavanaprasada and
his son Viradhavala, thus became the real rulers of Gujarat, who neverthe-
less were faithful to the throne of Anhilwad. Lavanaprasada, evidently
remained at the court, while Viradhavala ruled at Dholka, helping to uproot
the principalities and sharing the burden of government with his father.

Little is known about the reign of Bhima II, save what we can learn
from Mahomedan historians and the annalists of the rival kingdom of the
Cohanas of Sambhar. An honourable place is given to the gallant “Mad man
of Anhilwad ” in the wild but picturesque epic of Barot Cand : for example,
Prthvirdja Rdso says, “Bhima led an invincible army — a four-limbed army;
many foot-lords served him; he possessed ships that sailed to Sindh; his
military posts were in the land of Dhara.” He survived the fall of Prthviraja
Cohana, and then crossed swords with his vanquisher, the Mahomedan.

In 1197 A. D. Kutubuddin Aibak, who advanced against the Mers and
Gujaratis combined, was compelled to return to Ajmer. It was Jayantasirhha
a Paramara chief of Abu, a vassal of Anhilwad, who was instrumental in
saving Gujarat then.®“ He seems to have established himself as the supreme
lord in Anhilwad, for a year at least, during Bhima's absence. Evidently
Bhima II at the time of the invasion by Kutubuddin, who had come to Ajmer
advanced on Anhilwad and defeated the opposing forces at the frontier under
the mountain of Abu. The Mahomedans, however, got temporary possession
of the capital, some of the temples built by Siddharaja were destroyed; then
the impending storm burst upon the heads of the Rajput princes of India.
Gujarat and Malwa, Delhi, Sambhar and Kanauj, all weakened by intestine
struggles, all divided by mutual jealousies and rancours, succumbed to the

27. His power can be gauged from the various grants which he issued for the
maintenance of the temples etc.

28. He was “the extricator, like the Varaha, of the Gurjara land sunk in the waters
of the ocean of evil times, and the nourisher, like rain, of the seed of Gurjara
land burnt in^the forest-fire of calamities” (/nd. Ant, Vol. VI No. 4, p. 197, dated
1202A.D.)—

srdlqisrsiwi

THE TEMPORAL FACTOR : POLITICAL HERITAGE— LAW AND GOVERNMENT 105

irresistable flood of Mahomedan conquest, which sweeping away the
enfeebled obstacles in its path, engulfed the whole of Northern India, and
uprooted all the Rajput kingdoms within a generation.

The Muslim victory, however, did not then result in their permanent
occupation of Gujarat. For Bhima returned when the coast was once more
clear, and ruled again upto 1142. It was not until the close of the 13th cen-
tury that Anhilwad finally succumbed to the Muslims, led by the furious
Allaudin Khiljl, who is known to every peasant of Gujarat as ‘KhunP or
* murderer

Towards the middle of the 12th century the throne of Anhilwad passed
to a collateral branch of Mularaja’s line, but the change brought it with no
alteration in policy beyond an increase in the influence of the Jainas. Saurastra
and Malwa were nominally provinces of Anhilwad, but records of wars exist
against chiefs who continued to resist the Solankis. The Kohkan was in-
vaded in about 1160 A.D., but without permanent results; while the Cohanas
of Ajmer continued to threaten the northern frontier. The far graver danger
of Mahomedan conquest was averted by the defeat of Mahomed bin Satu in
1178, and Gujarat escaped serious molestation for more than a century. But
the growing weakness of its hereditary feudatories enfeebled the kingdom of
Solankis, and when the last scion of Mularaja’s line died in 1142, all power
had already passed to the Vaghela chiefs of Dholka. Viradhavala Vaghela,
a Mahamandalesvaray who was virtual master of Anhilwad, soon withdrew
his allegiance and founded the Vaghela dynasty at Anhilwad, which ensured
for four generations after him, viz., Visaladeva, Arjunadova, Saraiigdeva
and Karnadeva or Laghukarnadeva, in whose time Gujarat was finally con-
quered by the Mahomedans.

The Vaghelas were a powerful race, though, to be sure, nothing as com-
pared to the Solankis. Their two great Jaina ministers, Vastupala and
Tejahpala, built the famous Jaina temples at Mt, Abu and Girnar. According
to ^ Sukrta Sanklrtana \ the annals of the pious deeds of these Mantrisvaras,
Vastupala was no rigid Sravaka, but was prepared to honour the gods of his
sovereign, Viradhavala, and to build or restore Brahmin shrines when it was
to his credit or advantage. Visaladeva (1244-1262 A. D.) had wars with
Malwa, Mewad and Devagiri, and he fortified Visalnagar and Darbhavati.
Under Sarangdeva (1274-1294 A. D.) the kingdom of Gujarat still included
Sorath, Candravati, and Mount Abu, as his inscriptions show. But the king-
dom had shrunk to a part of north Gujarat^ and east Saurastra, and the
Vaghela wars were “little more than cattle-lifting raids’’. They were
compelled to accept a treaty of alliance with the Yadava kings of the Deccan.
Still commerce flourished and merchants built expensive temples, while the
court bad no lack of poets and panegyrists.

106

CULTURAL HISTORY OF GUJARAT

A single compaigr. in 1297 A. D., however, in the reign of Karnadeva
and the armies at Delhi under Ulugh Khan, Allaudin’s brother, had subdued
it.® This time the Musalmans occupied and held the country until, many
years later, they were ejected by the Marathas. And, in the words of the
author of Mirat-i-Ahmadi, with this event, “the sovereignty and power
of the tribes already noticed came to an end, and were transferred to the
supporters of our pure religion and illustrious law”.

This brings us to the end of Hindu rule and the beginning of an alien
rule in Gujarat, which remained an imperial province of Delhi until the end
of the Mughal sovereignty, barring an interval of about a century and a
half, when independent governors, under the Delhi kings, ruled as Sultans
therein.

It can be seen from the foregoing that the attitude then existing
between the rulers and the ruled in Gujarat made for personal loyalty
rather than the national feeling; and Buddhism and Jainism only made
matters worse in this respect.'" The people fell an easy pray to foreign
invaders, as witness the comparatively effortless conquest of Gujarat by the
Muslims.

(iii) Period of Mahomedan Rule (1297-1752 A.D.)

The history of the Mahomedan kings of Gujarat may be divided into
three periods. During the first, covering more than a century, Gujarat was
a province of the Delhi empire which, under the Khiljis and the Tughlaqs,
reached great heights of prosperity and then collapsed. During the second
period, commencing with the 15th century, an able viceroy broke away from
the Delhi court and set up an independent kingdom at Ahmedabad. Under
successive rulers, this kingdom became the most important State outside the
Mughal empire. During the third period, the second of the Mughal emperors
nearly ruined it, and it was easily annexed by Akbar in the latter half of the
16th century. Prosperity attended the rule of the Mughal viceroys until the
unwieldy empire broke up in the latter part of Aurangzeb’s reign, at the
commencement of the 18th century, and soon after the death of this monarch
Maralha armies, including that of the Gaekwads"', commenced their
invasions on Gujarat.

29, He invaded Gujarat, occupied Aphilwad and Cambay, sacked the temple of
Somanatb and laid waste the country. — Vide, Acarya Jinavijayaji’s paper on
“Ulugh Khan and Alaf Khan”, Puratattva, 'Vol. IV (1926).

30, Jainism, with its insiistence on non-violence, and Buddhism, with its clarion-call
to renunciation, combined to create an atmosphere in which patriotism and the
martial virtues withered and drooped — naturally.

31, The family name is explained thus by Kincaid and Pfirasnis in the "History of
the Marfithfi People” Nandfljl. the grandfather of Dftdftjl I, was a Marlthi

THE TEMPORAL FACTOR: POLITICAL HERITAGE-LAW AND GOVERNMENT JQ?

For nearly a century (1297-1392 A. D.) governors were sent to
Gujarat by the Sultans of Delhi, but their province included only the open
country about Patan, Cambay, Baroda, Broach, and lower Tapi. Large
tracts of country, however, continued for a time to be wholly independent;
and though they were gradually reduced to paying tribute to the Sultans
of Ahmedabad, they never were completely subjugated. The Imperial Gov-
vemors appointed to administer the affair.s of Gujarat seized, as public
property, the Hindu and Jaina temples, destroyed them, and, with their
materials constructed mosques in all the principal towns.

These governors were frequently changed, and none of them seems to
have had the interests of the country and its people at heart. They were
there to enrich their sovereigns at Delhi, and if possible, themselves.
Alaf Khan, the first viceroy, was succeeded by ineffectual weaklings,
with the result that for several years mutual distrust, disloyalty and
rebellions against the emperor or his viceroy were the order of the day.
During this period a few neighbouring Hindu princes regained part of their
independence, while others, retreating before the Musalmans, took refuge
and settled in Gujarat — for instance, the Rathods of Idar, the Gohils from
the north who occupied Piram, the Paramaras, and the Kathls from Sindh;
and the unsubdued hill-tribes, the Bhils and Kolis, were constantly in
revolt. In 1347, some Amirs combined and defeated Aziz, the governor of
Malwa, who had been sent by Mahomad Tughlaq to quell these disturbances,
whereupon the emperor himself marched into Gujarat and sacked the towns
of Surat and Cambay, and driving the Gohil chief Mokhadaji, out of Piram,
captured Gogha. A second revolt occurred soon after, which the emperor
quelled in a battle near Kadi, and he continued his conquests in and beyond
Kathiawad. One of the governors, Shams-al-din DamghanI, offered to
Sultan Firuz Shah III an advance of forty lakhs of Tankhds on the revenue
of Gujarat, a hundred elephants, forty Arab horses and four hundred slaves
every year if the province were handed over to him.” His offer was
accepted ; but, not wishing to pay the stipulated amount, he turned rebel,
and was killed by an army sent against him by the emperor aided by the
chiefs and people whom his greed had alienated.

As a rule, the Governors were no better than Shams-al-din. It was

officer in charge of the fort in the Bhorc State. One day he saw a Mahomedan
butcher driving a herd of cattle past the fort, and as a good Hindu, felt impel-
led to rush out and rescue the cows, letting them in by a side-door of the fort.
He then took the name of Gaekwad (Goi: cow; Kavdd: a small door). Hence
“ ” — the title becomes a Rfijput king.

82. Briggs, Fsrishtdh, Vol, I, p. 466.

CULTURAL HISTORY OF GUJARAT

108

on the accession of Mahamad Shah III that the inhabitants of Khambayat
(Cambay) complained against the tyranny of the Governor Farhat>ul-Mulk,
who owing to the disturbances in the empire, and the power he had acquired
by conciliating the Hindus, of whom his army was chiefly composed, ruled
almost independently. In 1391, a very able man named Zafar Khan, himself
a converted Rajput, was sent to displace him. Zafar Khan not only
defeated Farhat-ul-Mulk, but exacted tribute from some of the principal
Hindu Rajas — Junagadh, Delvada and Jhalawad — and despoiled the temple
of Somanath. His attempts against Idar were, however, frustrated by
circumstances, and the narrow tract in the plain over which he ruled
was threatened not only by Idar on the east and the Bhils and the Kolls
all along the mountain southward, but by the Rajas of Jhalor and Sirohl on
the north-west and in the peninsula of Somanath — not to speak of other
Hindu tribes.

In 1403, Zafar Khan’s son Mahmud took the title of ‘Sultan’ and
reigned as an independent sovereign over Gujarat. A few years after his
death, Zafar Khan himself, known as Muzaffar Shah, ruled the country from
Ahmedabad, then called Asawal, though he lived much at Patan, where in
the end he was buried, as was his son. The Mahomedan Nazims, or Gover-
nors, had their head-quarters at Anhilwa^, the old capital of the native
sovereigns, and this was not changed till about 1411, when Ahmed Shah, who
succeeded his grand-father Muzaffar Shah, founded a new capital on the site
of the old city of Asaval and called it ‘Ahmedabad’® after defeating his
rival relatives, the governors of Baroda and Surat. As Alaf Khan had
spread his rebellion through Gujarat proper from Patan to Barova, so Ahmed
Shah, conquering and levying tribute from tlie Rai of Junagadh and the

33. During the 14th century the Hindus, whether Brahmanical or Jaina, found
little mercy at the hands of their conquerors; and their rich shrines were
desecrated, plundered and demolished at the will of their masters. Only a
few ruined shrines and pitiful fragments remain to tell us of their former magni-
ficence. Obviously, no new works of importance could be attempted during the
rule of the Muslims; and consequently from the end of the 13th century to the
close of the 16th century under the rule of the liberal Akbar, no Hindu or Jaina
temple of any pretentions was erected in Gujarat.

Also, see : “In spite of the constant military activities of his reign he was
able to devote much of his time to the establishment of this city, which even
to-day bears witness to the taste and munificence of its founder.” — Cambridge
Hist, of India, Vol. XIII, p. 300.

For the traditional founding of Ahmedabad, see “Lavani" (Descriptive Cata-
logue of MSS. in Forbes (Jujardti Sabhd.Vol. I); also see, Navalram’s
(Mirror of History): ‘ ^ atiqi W ’ffiFU ’.

TUB TEMPOBAI. FACTOB : POtmCAL BEBITAGE-LAV AMO GOVERNMENT {Qg

Sorath chiefs, extended it to Saura^tra. His hand was also heavy upon the
Hindu kings of Campaner, Nandod, I^ar and Jhalawad. Again and
again he harried the country round Campaner, and to settle Idar he built
the fort of Ahmadnagar (now called Himatnagar) and exacted a heavy
tribute from the Rai. Besides these he defeated their ally the Musalman
king of Malwa, and repulsed Ahmad Shah, the Bahamani king of the
Deccan at Mahim, in northern Kohkan, which belonged to him, and in
Baglan, of which he held some portion (1430 A.D.)."*

This rapid extension of his kingdom was due to two wise measures
taken by him, one assigning lands in Jagir for the support of regular troops
and the other conciliating the Hindu land-owners by granting them the
*Watan\ or one-fourth share of their villages.

The next notable Sultan of Gujarat was Mahmud Begda (1459-1513
A.D,), who, in 1470, captured the impregnable forts of Girnar and Junagadh
annexing Sorath, and afterwards destroyed the temple of Jagat (Dwarka),
and who in 1484, took the fort of Campaner, and played the Sea-Captain
when pirates on the coast below Surat interrupted trade,® and the
Admiral in 1507, when he sailed in person with his fleet to Daman and
Mahim. The Amir-ul-amra Malik Sultany also sailed from the Port of
Div, and, joining the Turkish admiral, attacked and defeated the Portuguese
fleet, near the harbour of Caul, a few miles to the south of Bombay.

Mahmud, if not the greatest, was certainly the most popular of the kings
of Ahmedabad.* He was, it is said, a great eater. Anecdotes about him abound;
and there is hardly a fragment of Muslim architecture in Gujarat which
popular feeling does not connect with him. In addition to the two Muslim
cities of Mustafabad (Junagadh) and Mahmudabad (Caihpaner) he founded
a new city of Mahmudabad on the banks of Vatrak in his own name, and he
turned the land into a veritable orchard by planting fruit-trees in the) open
country as well as in cities, towns and villages. It was, perhaps, his naval
warfare which won for him a European reputation."

After Mahmud his son Muzaflar II continued the ancestral contest

I

34. See Cambridge History of India, Vol. II, Chap. XIII, p. 299.

35. He got together a force consisting of archers, musketeers and gunners, and
giving chase to the enemy continued a running fight for some hours, capturing
several of the piratical vessels.

36. He is to the Muslim as Siddharaj is to the Hihdu, a nucleus round which gathers
romance and tale. His personal bravery and strength, his justice, his bene-
ficence, his strict observance of Mahomedan ritual, and the excellence of his
judgment, are alike extolled.— -Hdsawdld.

37. Also, see Cambridge History of India, Vol. II, p. 315.

110

eULTDllAL BISTOSy OF qojasat

with Malwa, I<jlar and Chitod, but nothing particular happened until the
accession of Bahadur Shah (1526-1536 A. D.), who squandered all his
resources on new conquests, and alienated the sympathies of his people by
introducing the system of revenue-farming. He did, indeed, extend the
kingdom to the farthest limits it ever attained. The nine districts of Gujarat
proper, which included Ahmedabad, Patan, Baroda, Broach, Rajpipla,
Surat, and Campaner; Jodhpur, Jhalod, Nagor, and Sirohi in Rajputana; Duh-
garpur and Bahswada in Malwa; a portion of Khandesh and Baglan; Jahjira,
Bombay, Bassein and Daman in the Kohkan in the Western peninsula;
Somanath, Sorath, Navanagar; and, finally, Kaccha — all these belonged to him.
The rulers of Ahmednagar, Bijapur, Berar, Golkonda and Burhanpur, were,
at various times, his tributaries.

Surely never had the kingdom of the Gujarat Sultan been more power-
ful. Ahmedabad and its neighbours Mahmudabad and Campaner were at
the zenith of their glory, and even more so were the harbours of Surat and
Cambay, which under the Musalmans were thronged with shipping. After
capturing Mandu, the capital of Malwa, and storming Chitod, Bahadur Shah
courted ruin by challenging the hardy men of the north, the soldiers of the
Mughal Humayun. Gujarat was overrun by the Imperial armies in 1535; in
the following year Bahadur Shah recovered his kingdom only to enjoy it
for one brief year. He died at Div in 1536 A. D. while fighting the Portu-
guese, then masters of the seas which wash the coast of Gujarat.®

His death exposed the hidden disease in the kingdom, the succeeding
kings retaining only a nominal power, while the country was divided between
the parties of a few great nobles who were constantly plotting one against the
other. Finally, one of their number sought the aid of the great Emperor of
Delhi, Akbar; the province was annexed by him in 1573. Some time, how-
ever, elapsed before peace was finally established.

In Gujarat, Akbar aimed less at innovation than at the retention of
what was best worth preserving. The divisions of the country into portions
directly administered by the Viceroy, who took the place of the Ahmedabad
kings, and those merely tributary, were allowed to continue. The supporters
of the emperor were rewarded by the grants of land. The first Mughal
viceroy was Mirza Aziz Koka (1575 A. D.),’ who was put in charge of
Ahmedabad, Petlad and several other districts.

The tributes were fixed according to the terms made at the time of
conquest, and bore no relation to the financial resources of the subject states.
These were not regularly levied, but were usually extracted either by actual

33. For details of the Naval fight, see Cam. Hist, of India, pages 312, 316.

THE TEMPORAL FACTOR : POLITICAL HEIUTAGS-LAV AND GOVERNMENT

force under the system called ‘ MuUikgiri which was subsequently adopted
and amplified by the Marathas. In the feudatory States the revenue consisted
of a share in the crops, levied either directly on the cultivators by the agents,
or collected through the superior landlords. There were also certain cesses
on trade, in the Sarkar districts, in accordance with the practice of the
Ahmedabad kings.

Akbar placed an accountant at the disposal of each governor whose duty
it was to check the management of internal affairs, and who corresponded
with the head-accountant at Ahmedabad, an officer second only to the
viceroy. Bahadur Shah had introduced the custom of farming the revenues
through contractors (Ijardars) which was followed by the nobles in the
management of their estates. Although this innovation greatly increased the
revenue yet ultimately it caused the disorganisation of the kingdom. Akbar
abolished this system, but it was revived under the early Maratha rulers.

Under the Ahmedabad kings certain lands assigned in Jagir gradually
became the personal property of powerfvil and unruly military lords. The
military ambition of Bahadur Shah so enhanced the power and position of
the military chiefs that they became virtually independent. Under the
Mughal emperors, the Jagirdars were again subjected to the control of the
government; but after Aurangzeb's death, and during the confusion caused
by the Maratha invasions, they regained their independence, as in the case
of the Babi family of Junagadh and the Nawabs of Surat, Baroda and Cambay.

By the end of the 16th century, the Delhi empire included the whole
of Sindh, Khandesh and Gujarat, with the exception of Div, Daman, Bassein
and Bombay, which belonged to the Portuguese. Although in territory, the
province of Gujarat under the Mughals was less than that, over which the
more powerful of the Ahmedabad kings had ruled, yet its importance may
be estimated by the high rank of many of its viceroys. The efficiency of the
administration was, however, much weakened by the frequent transfer of
officers, and by the practice which soon grew up of allowing the great nobles
to remain at the court and administer their provinces by a Deputy. The land
tax, which was fixed at the cash equivalent of one-third of the produce, was
the chief head of revenue, and was assessed in accordance with a system
devised by Raja Todar Mai. Akbar abolished many minor imposts and
transit duties, and prohibited Sati and the enslavement of prisoners of
war; but it is doubtful whether the control of the central power was at
any time strong enough to enforce the emperor’s benevolent measures in
distant provinces.

The second of the viceroys appointed by Akbar was Mirza Khan, a son
of the great minister Behram ELhan. During his brief tenure of office (1573

112

CULTURAL HISTORY OF QUJARAT

A. D.), a portion of Central Gujarat received the blessing of a revenue settle-
ment, made by Todar Mai, which lasted until the Marathas swept away every
trace of Musalman rule. In about 1609 Baroda and Surat were invaded by
Malik Amber, a noble of Nizam Shah’s court and governor of Daulatabad;
and factories were established at Surat by rival traders of England and
Holland — ^both events of great importance.

Shah Jahan, who was viceroy from 1613 to 1622 liked the climate
of Ahmedabad (unlike Jahangir) and he built there the beautiful palace of
Shahi Bag, which he revisited as emperor in 1627. His viceroy Azam Khan,
an able and energetic administrator, did much to keep the Kolis of Gujarat
and the Ka^hls in order. His successor introduced the Bhagabatai’”, system
of revenue into Gujarat.

These competent officers were succeeded in 1644 by Aurangzeb, a
religious fanatic, who, in two years, threw the whole country into confusion.
In 1654 both prince Murad Baksh and Maharaja Jasvant Singh, a gallant
rival of Aurangzeb, were viceroys here. During Aurangzeb’s reign,
the years 1664, 1666 and 1670 were marked by repeated attacks on Surat
by SivajI, signs of the coming change.

The death of Aurangzeb (1707 A. D.) was followed by fifty years of
disorder, and the Musalman empire fell to pieces. The Muslim Amirs lost
all sense of cohesion. Self-interest became paramount, and they were ready
at a pinch to join the Marathas, till the viceroy found himself compelled to
solicit their alliance. The emperors down to Aurangzeb had placed Hindus
and Musalmans impartially in positions of trust, and had not exacted the
poll-tax on infidels (Jazid) from Hindus. In Gujarat, down to the death
of Aurangzeb, the Mughal viceroys were on the whole successful in
maintaining order and prosperity, in spite of the famines of 1596, 1631, 1681,
1684 and 1697-98 and of the Maratha attacks on Surat. Almost throughout
the Mughal period, the province yielded a revenue of nearly two crores of
rupees, and a large foreign trade was carried on at the ports of Cambay,
Broach and Surat.

i:

(iv) The Marathas : (1752-1818)

The first Maratha force that made its appearance in Gujarat was
that of Sivaji (early in 1664). The fort of Salher in Baglan, which
guarded one of the best frequented passes from the Deccan into Gujarat,
was taken by the Marathas in 1672. A Maratha force first crossing the

39. Bhdgdbatdi i. e. Division of the produce of the land under a fixed share between
the State and the tiller.

THE TEMPORAL EACTOR ; POLITICAL HERtTAOB-LAW AND GOVERNMENT IIS

Naxmada in 1675, under the command of Hambirrao, plundered the Broach
district, and ten years later, in the company of Murad, again looted .Broach.
Dabhade had made an incursion into the Surat district in 1699. The decline
of the Mughal rule began with a Mara^ha raid across the Narmada in
1705. From 1711 these invasions became annual, and the Marathas
established themselves successively at Songadh (1719), Campaner (1723)
and Baroda (1734). The beginning of the end came during the goveitiorship
of Sarbuland Khan (1723-30 A. D.) who farmed out the revenues and admit-
ted the Maratha claims to Chouth and Sardeshmukhl.

Henceforth absolute anarchy reigned in the province, which was
ravaged by the leaders of the Peshwas and Gaekwar’s armies, by the Rajas
of Jodhpur, by the agents of Nizam-ul-Mulk, and by such local Musalman
chiefs as the Babls, who established themselves at Junagadh (1738) and
Balasinor (1761), the Jhaloris, who settled at Palanpur (1715) and
Momin Khan, who set up the State of Cambay (1748) : and this, in spite of
the fact that the Delhi court continued to appoint Viceroys till 1748. Famines
in 1719, 1732 and 1747 added to the misery of the people.

In 1737, the Gaekwar was admitted to a half share in the revenues of
the province, and occupied Ahmedabad jointly with the viceroy’s troops
(1738). Broach, from 1731 to 1752, held by a deputy of the Nizam, had
to yield a share of the customs to the Gaekwar. Surat suffered chiefly from
the violence of rival candidates for the governorship. The Maratha domi-
nance prevailed intermittently to the end of the 18th century in Western
India, and during the first fifty years after Nadir Shah’s invasion (1739),
which completed the Mughal debacle, they had only local rivals to settle.
Gujarat was parcelled out among a number of local chiefs who ceaselessly
carried on petty warfare which the Marathas had no desire to suppress, so
long as they could secure their share of the plunder of the province. The
Peshwa’s share in 1751 only added another plunderer to the lot.

After the battle of Panipat the local Musalmans tried, but failed, to
drive out the Gaekwar (1761) ; but the last chance of a strong native govern-
ment growing up wls ruined by the disputed succession at Baroda in 1768
A. D. The internal troubles in Surat lasted until the British occupied the
castle in 1759, and so obtained claims over Broach, which had been independ-
ent since 1752 A. D., but was taken by a British force in 1772 A. D. The
first collision between the Marathas and the British took place in 1774, when
civil war broke out between Raghoba and the ministry, and the British agreed
to aid Raghoba in return for Salsette, Bassein and certain districts in Guja-
rat. But the treaty of Purandhar (1776 A. D.) left only Salsette and Broach
in hands of the British, of which the latter was handed to Scindia by the

114

CULTURAI. HISTORY OY GVJARAT

treaty of Salbai (1782 A. D.). The Gaekwar was protected against the
Peshwa, and for twenty years (1782-1803 A. D.) the British and the Mara-
tha Govenunents remained at peace.

The Maratha confederacy began to break up, and the Gaekwar was
drawn away from it by his acceptance of British protection (1782 A. D.). In
Gujarat there was little improvement in the Government during this period,
though inspite of dispute in the Gaekwar’s family and the intrigues at the
Poona court, a semblance of order was preserved by British influence from
1782 to 1799 A. D., when the Gaekwar took Ahmedabad and imprisoned the
Peshwa’s Agent. In 1799 A. D., the Peshwa farmed his rights to the Gaek-
war, who entered into subsidiary alliance with the British, the Peshwa and
the Gaekwar, which ended in the cession to the first named, of certain
districts and rights in Gujarat. The British had annexed Surat in 1800 A. D.
on the death of the Nawab, whose family was pensioned off, and had wrested
Broach from Scindia in the war of 1803.

The British, who acquired the Peshwa’s rights in Gujarat partly by
treaty and partly by conquest over Baji Rao, the last Peshwa (1818 A. D.),
became the supreme holders of the province of Gujarat. The districts were
re-organised, the change from native rule being rather in men than in meas-
ures. The first steps towards the settlement of Saurastra and Mahikantha
were taken between 1807 and 1818 A. D., the lease of the Panca Mahals from
Scindia being as late as 1853 A. D. With the advent of the new alien, but
supreme power, the grosser abuses of Mulakgirl expeditions were stopped,
and the peasantry were contented and orderly, though the Deccan! Brahmins,
Kathlawad Rajputs, Vaghers, Kolis and soldiery regretted their former
freedom to win both laurels and plunder.

III. Republics

The Hindu race has always loved political experiments. According to
Aitareya Brahmana the greater portion of Aryan India, North, West, and
South, enjoyed republican constitutions. Further East, in the Prac!, with
its centre in or about Magadha, there was the cunstituti6n called Samrajya,
which literally means a combination of monarchies, i. e., a federal im-
perialism around one dominant member. North and West and South-west
were still republican in the time of Alexander. Republics lasted for about
1000 years. In Gujarat there was the republic of the Vr^nis and Ahdhakas,
with their ineradicable influence on the national life and literatiue of Aryan
India in the early years — ‘for political wisdom and valiant independence’.*

40. K. P. Jayaswal, Hindu Polity, Part I, p. 138.

THE TEMPORAI. rACTOB : POUTICAL HBIUTAGE>-LAW AND GOVERNMENT 115

We Start here with a short accoimt of the republics in the peninsula
of Saura$tra since the days of the Yadava colony. The earliest republicans
known were those of the sovereign Bhoja leaders. Their constitution itself
was called “Bhaujya”, and the Bhojas, so named after their rulers, appear
in later literature as a subdivision of the Yadavas, whose earlier history
shows them to have belonged to two combined republics called the Andhaka-
Vfsnls. According to Aitereya Brahmaiika, Satvatas were those who observed
the Bhaujya constitution. The name Bhoja, or Bhaujya, still survives in
modem ‘ Bhuja ’. The Rastrikas and Bhojakas, who fought against Kharvela
in the time of Patahjali, and who are mentioned by Asoka as being in
Aparanta, i. e., Western India, were self-governing states within the imperial
territorial limits.

The Vrsnl-Ahdhaka league had a joint federal constitution, where
executive power was vested in two ‘Rajanyas’, i. e., leaders of families
dedicated to rulership, with their respective ‘ Vargas ’ , (party) representing
each division. Changing dual groups — ^Vasudeva and Ugrasena, Akrura and
Vasudeva, Sini and Vasudeva — suggests that the Ahdhaka Rajanya and the
Vrsni Rajanya were elected rulers. Akrura was an Ahdhaka leader, and
at one time was one of the two presidents of the Federal Council. That the
Vfsnis had no Rajanyas in their constitution, is shown in folklore and legend
which m^y mean that they had lost the fight of kingship through a curse, and
is further proved by their coins, which were struck in the name of the Rajanya
and Gana, ‘the Protector of the country of Vrsnis’
and which bear the Brahml script of the first century B. C. The Vfsnis fell
before the Saka barbarian, leaving behind a couple of coins to tell the tale
stamped with the traditional State-symbol of Cakra (discus) of the time of
Rajanya Krsna. The Santi Parva (ch. 81) records a discussion on the affairs
of the Andhaka-Vrsni league which shows that there were two political parties
in the joint Saihgha or Federal Parliament, each of which tried to gain the
upper hand in political matters. Krsna was attacked, and he returned the
attack. Babhru, Ugrasena and Krsna were then the elected Presidents.
Ahuka on the side of the Vrsnis, and Akrura on the side of the Ahdhakas, seem
to have led the federal Diet. These two republican leaders had contracted a
political marriage between their families, thereby cementing their relation-
ship to their mutual interest. The republic of the Saurastras (lit. “Good
Realm”, as known from ArthaSastra) was extant in Saurastra (325-300 B.C.) ;
and the name “Saurastra” seems to have spvived the Mauryan imperialism."

41. It figures in the inscriptions of Bala Sri (about 58 B. C.) and in the Junagadh
inscription of Rudradaman (2nd century A. D.) as can be seen in Kautilya’s
phrase, XI, i, p. 160, ‘ I ’

116

CULTURAL HISTORY OF GUJARAT

Each State was a nation-in-arms, insisting on military skill in its citizens.
In short, each had a citizen army. Where the king-consul constitution obtained,
there were probably regular or hired (standing) armies. But the Nation-in-
arms class did not become purely military, for their constitution also made
provisions for industry and agriculture. They were, therefore, rich as well
as strong." They were also artistic, lovers of music and dancing."

The Mauryan policy was to allow honourable existence to strong and
combined republics, for “they were dijB&cult to be conquered”. Those that
were isolated were weakened by a policy of internal division and then reduc-
ed by force. This weakened the country and paved the way for the foreign
barbarians of the first century B. C. in Western India, who easily and unoppos-
ed took possession of the land from Sindh upto the Maratha country. The
Bhiksus had also formed into ‘ Sanghas \ The clay sealing unearthed from
Ihtva on Girnar, Junagadh, records in Brahmi script that it belonged to the
congregation of mendicants at the monastery built by Maharaja Rudrasena
(C. 196-222 A. D.) fa pw . At the end of the 5th century

A. D., republics disappeared from Hindu India. From 550 A. D. onwards
Hindu history became a series of brilliant biographies — isolated gems without
a common string of national and communal life. We get men great in virtue
and power, but the community ceases to breathe the air of freedom.

42. The country named ‘Saura§tra ’ probably owed origin to a Ra§trika constitution,
a non-monarchical community, with a paraphernalia of sovereignty. In the
Arthas&stra the Suraigit^s^s are a republic where no king-consul was allowed.
The territorial appellations Hastrika and Saurast^^a seem to have been derived
from the republican constitution. — Hindu Polity^ Jjiyaswal.

43. Says Dr. K, P. Jay aswal, “The philosophy of the Vr§pi leader and that of his
cousin Nemi are national beliefs to the present day. Free constitutions seem
to have given rise to free philosophies. Philosophy, politics and military
training did not combine to develop a non-human type of humanity. The
republics were noted for their love of music. Arrian calls these Indians whom
Alexander met, “lovers of dance and song“. The musical propensities of
Vr§pis were a familiar feature in Sanskj-t literature. The^Harivomsa describes
their dance and music.

The testimony of Sarhgadeva {Sanglta Ratndkara, Nartanddhydya, Verses
7,8: 1200 A. D.), may be added here to point out that even ladies had their
special music, occasionally in a mixed concert. The Idsya dance (the original
of the modern Rdsa and Garaho) was specially known to UiSa, wife of Aniruddha,
through Parvati, from whom the ladies of Dwaraka and then of Saura$tra, and
thence the women of other countries, learned the Idsya music. This special
feature of Gujarat social life in its aesthetic form, remains unique among the
provinces of India, even today.

THE TEMPORAL FACTOR : POUnCAI. HBRITAGE-IAW AND GOVERNMENT 117

IV. The Ideal of Kingship*

In ancient times, the term “Imperial power” implied overlords^ip
rather than actual rule. Wars amongst the medieval Rajaput kings, for in-
stance, were fought more for the establishment of prestige than for extension
of territory. Each Rajaput king yearned for the title of “Cakravartin” or
emperor, and fought mightily therefore, but made no attempt to annex the
kingdom he defeated. Thus the power of both the conquerer and the
conquered was considerably lessened, no gain whatever accruing to the
Victor.® The SolahkI kings, especially, seem to have been singularly free
from greed of power, some of them actually transferring their authority to
others when occasion arose for their own withdrawal from the throne during
their lifetime, mostly for purposes of pilgrimage or self-purification.®

The Mahomedan Sultans of Gujarat craved supremacy rather than
territory;® but with the advent of their successors, the Mughals, the policy
changed, extension of territory, rather than suzerainty being now the goal.

Akbar parcelled his empire into great provinces or Suhahs, which
included Native states or protectorates, and recovered most of the former
dominions of Delhi. By his firm, just and uniform administration, he once
more brought law and order into the country. But the Mughal policy, as a
whole, was destructive as far as the Native States were concerned, sparing
not even the Muslim principalities in the South.

The Marathas were bom soldiers, and conquered great tracts of
country. Their method of administration differed from all others. They
either sold the right of collecting revenues to creditors, i. e.. State Bankers,
or auctioned it publicly. The purchasers, called Ijardars, had great power
and little responsibility towards the ruling power. Their tenure of the

44. Hindu kingship before the complete autocracy of the medieval Hindu period

and later Mahomedan period was “elective : a contractual engagement;

and office of state, which had to work in co-operation with the other officers of
the state : a trusts.; expressly not arbitrary; — primarily national, secondarily
territorial."

45. As for example, sec Bhoja of Malava, called ‘Malava Cakravarti’, Karpa of
Cedi, and Kumarapala Solahki. ‘Prthvirdja Rdso ’ related that ninety out of
hundred of Prthviraja’s Samantas fell in his conflict with Jayacandra while
carrying off Sariiyogita. Siddharaja also was called ‘ Siddha Cakravarti ’.

46. Mularaja, hisson C&mupds, Durlabharaja, Bhimadeva and several others are
instances in point.

47. Mahmud Begda, having conquered Sorath, appointed a son of Ra Mipdalik as
Jagirdar; and Malwa, Khandesh etc. (though they were annexed by the SultSns
of Gujarat) were not personally administered by them.

118

CULTURAL HISTORY OF GUJARAT

farms was too short to make it worth their while to take any trouble over
the administration thereof. The Marathas copied the Mughals in their
methods of levying tribute, borrowing from them the very names of their
levies — ‘ghdsa ddnd’ for instance, being merely a translation of the Moghul
‘kah danah’ and ‘KhdndanV the Marathi synonym for ‘peshkuah*. The
Marathi-speaking people who conquered a great portion of India after
g aining their own independence, were composed of Kunbis and Brahmins.
The former were warriors, the latter administrators. True, Sivaji was
an administrator, and several of the Peshwas great generals, but as a rule,
the ordinary Maratha, though a good fighter, had few of the qualities
of a good ruler.*

The institution of feudalism was born of the military requirements
of a State. It implied a lordly control of the masses by lords or sarddrs,
liv ing in strongholds and holding all the land about them, and a domination
of common life in all its aspects by a military organization. Every State
needs a strong and efficient army. The Hindu states in Mediaeval Hindu
period, however, had probably stopped maintaining standing armies, as in the
days of Harsa or Bhoja. The army consisted chiefly of the quotas supplied
by the Sdmantaa or feudal lords, whose status somewhat resembled that
of the English Barons. They maintained for the use of the state a certain
number of fighters whose expenses were borne by their fiefs.

On the fall of the Hindu kingdom of Anhilwad some of its feudatory
chiefs and nobles retired to their estates or retreated into the surrounding
hilly countries, founded small principalities there, and defied the Mahomedan
power from their mountain-fortresses. The Zamindars in the time of Sultan
Ahmad Gujarati (1484 A.D.) rebelled, but were punished and driven from
their retreats, whereupon they turned into highwaymen. The result was
anarchy, confusion, and general distress in the land. Sultan Ahmad,
thereupon began to exact a certain security from the Zamindars of every
village. Three parts of the land of each village, under the denomination
of *Talpad', were acknowledged as the property of the kjng, and one-fourth
was given to the Zamindars under the denomination of *Vdn$d’, on an
understanding that they were to furnish guards and protection to their own
villages, and were to hold themselves in readiness for the service of the king

48. For detailed description of Maratha administration in Gujarat, see Barodd
Gazetteer, p. 432 ; —

“In the forcible language of Burke, it was “an exchequer wherein extortion
was the assessor, fraud the cashier, confusion the accountant, concealment
the reporter, and oblivion the remembrancer.”

THB TEMPORAL FACTOR : POLITXCAjL HERITAGE-^LAW AND GOVERNBCBNT 119

whenever called upon. For this ^Vdhtff or the share of the chief (some**
times called *gr&sa^ or mouthful), a ^salami* or quit-rent had to be paid to
the crown. When the Musalman power began to decline, another kind of
‘grasa’ came to be aclmowledged which owed its origin to a system of
black-mail, levied by predatory chiefs on villages exposed to their incursions.
This was called the 'Todd-gards”; and Elphinstone defines it as "the sum
paid to the powerful neighbour or turbulent inhabitant of the village as the
price of forbearance, protection or assistance”.

Even the Marathas, who gradually conquered the country, could not
prevent the more turbulent of the small land-owners from levying this
black-mail on their more peaceful and defenceless neighbours. The
Mehvasls", who lived in the hilly country on the eastern boundary of
Gujarat, mostly near the Mahl and the Narmada rivers, were also a wild and
predatory class levying black-mail on peaceful towns.

In short, there was little safety of person or property during the pre-
British period in Gujarat, there being no powerful central authority to keep
the different chiefs in control, and life in Gujarat suffered greatly in all
its aspects.

V. Revenue and Taxation

The political unrest above referred to precluded a systematic levy of
taxes and revenue. The Hindu theory of taxation is of immense importance

49. The peaceful country was termed ^Rasti’ by the Marathas; and the inaccessible
hill-country was called 'Mevasi', 'Mevasa’ signifying a stronghold or
fortress.

K. H. Dhruva suggests (vide ‘Notes on Solankl Vamsa*, Buddhiprakds,
November 1927) that the Mevasis are the descendents of Mers» or Kolis, original
residents on the banks of Indus, to the south of Afghanistan or Asmaka Desa,
‘Mer’ being derived from the Sanskrt ^^1^, Prak^t the sea; and

Koli from ^ or l^nk, also called Kanthi, from the word meaning ‘bank *.
The actual derivation of the word “Mevasi" is, however, still uncertain.

See also '^Mitradharmdkhydna** by Vallabha, a concocted son of Premanand
(S. 1761); and Navalram, for dwellers on the banks of the river Mahi

»it, p, a’sir’fr ^ i jFwtr”

“ I ^ '3^^ II

I ^ ^ ^ ii

wfiKl’sft ■%: I sw: sniPratsft %: ii

I ^ sRPrfkr ii

120

CULTURAi:. BISTOBY 07 GUJARAT

£rom the constitutional point of view. Taxes had been fixed by Law
and the scales embodied in the sacred common law, so that, whatever the
form of government, the matter of taxation was safe from tiie caprice of the
ruler, and the possibility of oppression or of friction between the ruler and
the ruled was thus reduced to a minimum.

Though taxes were fixed by common law, the king often found it
necessary to apply for additional extraordinary taxation to the Paura and
Jdnapada-^the Town and the Country Councils. Rudradaman, as we find
from his inscription, suggested to his council of ministers the restoration of
the great Sudarsana lake; the suggestion was rejected; and he did the repairs
from "his own private purse”, not troubling the 'Paura Janapada Gapa’, or
body politic, with a demand for money for the purpose.

Following the Hindu theory of taxation, the officers of the assembly
had to make out a bill for all the losses sustained by the people through
thefts, dacoities, or any sort of lawlessness, and the king had to pay. Taxes
were paid to the king as wages for his services of protection and admini*
stration. “The l/6th Bali tax, import and export duties, fines and forfeitures
collected from offenders — gathered in accordance with the Sastras (law and
constitution) as your wages shall constitute your revenue.””

Thus the Master-Servant of the people had his wages and maintenance
fixed by divine authority, and he had to be content therewith. The mainstay
of his revenue was his fixed hhSga, or share, of the produce from agriculture.
His share in merchandise sold in the market was 1/lOth or so. There were,
however, some sources of revenue which are now called excise and customs
(sulka).

The title of the king to his share of the land-revenue leads us to the
important Hindu theory on the proprietorship of land, which is connected
with taxation." The earth is not the king’s alone. It belongs, says Jaimin!
in the ‘Mimamsd Sutras', to all alike. Therefore, although a piece of land
could be gifted to an individual, the whole land could not be given away by
a king, nor a whole province by a subordinate prinde. House and field
acquired by purchase and similar means, howeyer, were liable to gift. The
monarch had no claims on the land. His conquests brought him kingly
power alone, except for the property in houses and fields belonging to the
enemy (as private property). Apart from this, he could claim nothing

50. Maha Bharata, Santi Parva, LXXI. 10.

51. For a further explanation of this controversy, vide K. P. Jayaswal’s Hindu
Polity, Part II, pp. 174-183.

THE TEMPORAL rACTOR : POLITICAL HERITACE-LAW AND GOVERNMENT 121

more than his right to receive taxes from husbandmen and levy fine on
offenders.

Says Nilaka^tha, a Hindu Lawyer of the 17th century, in his ^Vyava-
Kara Mayiikha’ (Doyo Nirrioya),“ “On conquest, the ownership of the con-
queror arises only in respect of the houses, lands and personality, etc., of the
ruler conquered. Where the latter had a right to taking taxes, the conqueror
acquires that much right, and no ownership. Proprietory right in the whole
land with regard to villages, and land, etc., lies in their respective land-lords.
The king’s right is limited to the collection of tax therefrom. Therefore,
what is technically meant as ‘giving away of land’, by the king does not
mean giving away of land but a mere creation of allowance. If house,
land, etc., are bought from the owner by the king, proprietorship can
arise.’’"

The earliest form of land-lord’s rent, or Rajabhdga, was a fixed share
of the produce of the soil. The Maitraka grants refer to two separate
systems of land assessments — ^in Kaira by yield, the unit being basketful,
and in Saurastra by area measured by hand-paces. Gradually land-holders
began to levy cash assessments or ‘vero\ in addition to the share of the
crop. These rates, probably, were the consequencei^ of the tribute exacted
first by the Musalmans, and next by the Marathas. In the course of time,
the levy of ‘veto' became a symbol of independence, and was frequently
quoted in proof of independence.

The complications arising from the grain-share, or Bhdgahatdi system,
induced the Government later on, to adopt a system known as the
“Cokhkha Bhaga” or “cash share’’. A notice was issued in the time of the
Emperor Aurangzeb by Shahvardi Khan, governor of Sorath, to the effect
that merchants should not be compelled to purchase the produce of the
Jagirdars in whole lots. The two Mangrol inscriptions (1685-86 A. D.) state
that “the custodian of Sorath came to know that his predecessors in office
used to sell all sorts of grain of their Jagir by force, i.e., by giving it to the
merchants by a lump sum (udhad); he approved of the losses the latter were
put to. They also levied prohibited imposts from the ryots. Hence he had
resolved that he shall not collect any of the forbidden imposts from the
merchants”. (Bhdvnagar Inscriptions, p. il). The same spirit of toleration
is found in a stone-inscription at Mangrol (1402-03 A. D.), the Kotwdls of
which place were prohibited by the governor of Sorath from levying tax on
marriages of the Hindus and Ahirs, for the sake of prosperity of the town,

52. Gujarat is governed by this Law-text.

53. g WlfWSRi;, sf l”

122

CULTURAL HISTORY OF GUJARAT

contentment of the minds of the people and, in order that there may be
spiritual and temporal freedom.*'

The Persian word for revenue was Peshkash, i. e., “first-drawn”, the
first fruits. The Muslims, on the conquest of a new country, generally
allowed the minor chiefs (if they came to terms unresistingly) to retain
their estates on the annual payment of Peshkash, and Jam d or Jamahandhi,
which meant 'land revenue’ pure and simple. This was settled for the village
as a whole, generally with the headman of the village. The Zamindars
observed a strict neutrality in times of war, paying their revenue or Jama,
to the ofiicer in charge of their district. Neither the Mughals nor the
Mara^has interfered in their internal affairs, except that, as time passed, a
larger and larger tribute was exacted from them by the latter. The Muslim
rulers used military force to exact a yearly Peshkash from those Zamindars
who had not been completely subjugated; and the army, that was yearly equip-
ped and sent round for the extortion of this tribute, was called ‘Mulukgin'.

The Marathas retained this mode of collecting revenue. To meet the
expenses of the ‘Mulukgiri’ army, they imposed a new tax on the Zamindars
called “ Ghasdana ” which was not withdrawn till the commencement of the
nineteenth century, when the British came to Gujarat. The Marathas first
established their right to exact Chouth in Gujarat, and then turned to ad-
ministration; and they exacted Chouth even from those territories which
were not under their jurisdiction."

VI. Coinage

Among primitive peoples trade was carried on by barter until certain
other media were introduced to facilitate exchange. Wealth in those early
times being computed in cattle, oxen or kine were most naturally employed
for the purpose. The cow was placed at the higher end of the scale of
barter; shells, beads, cowries or even bars of copper or iron stood at the
lower. From varying amounts of metal, weighed and delivered, it was but a
step to pieces of metal of recognised weight and fineness, with the stamp
of authority upon them. Their convenience was appreciated alike by
merchant and ruler; and in India they have* been in universal use for
nearly 2600 years. The first coins seem to have come into India from
Persia, with which she carried on a maritime trade in about 700 B.C."

54. Bhdvnagar Inscriptions, p.l9.

55. See, Sen : Administrative System of the Marathas, p. 98.

56. Kautilya.

THE TBMPOBAL FACTOR : POLITICAL HERITAGE-LAW AND GOVERNMENT 123

The earliest kind of currency seems to have been punch-marked
coinage, which was struck by royal goldsmiths and silver-smiths and by
communal guilds (Srenis) . The originals of these coins may have come
from Babylon, after the opening of maritime trade between that country
and the west coast of India,” or they may have been purely indigenous, but
manifesting foreign influences in fabrics and designs. For eight centuries
these foreign types of coins were reproduced in India; they changed
more and more in character as they became less and less intelligible to
successive strikers; and they disappeared altogether in the general
cataclysm that followed the terrible Huna invasion in the 6th century.
Greek coins, which were imitated largely by the kings of the Indo-Bactrian,
Indo-Scythian, Indo-Parthian, and Kusana dynasties of North-Western
India, have done much to throw light upon that period of Indian history
which stretches from the invasion of Alexander to the rise of the Kusana
power in India.

The introduction, by the Indo-Greek kings, of the portrayed head
of the Greek types into the Indian coinage, marked the first intermingling
of Eastern and Western culture in India. The Ksatrapa coins of Gujarat
follow the Greek model, but are inferior in execution to those of the
Bactrians. The monarch wears the Macedonian helmet; the reverse has a
fire-altar or Caitya, the Sun, and the Moon; and the legend usually bears the
names of the kings and his father, and, in the case of earlier kings, the title
of 'Mahaksatrapa’.

The silver coinage of the Guptas comes into being with the overthrow
of the Western Ksatrapas by Candragupta II. It is a close imitation of the
Ksatrapa coinage, except that the obverse bears a figure of Visnu’s sacred
bird Garuda, in place of the Caitya and the dates are of the Gupta instead
of the Saka era. They are obviously intended for circulation in the recently
annexed provinces. Kumaragupta while striking larger coins with the
Garuda stamp, also put the peacock — the bird sacred to Kumara, the
War-God and his naijie-sake — on his coinage, as can be seen from a large
number of coins which have been found in the peninsula and also in Central
Gujarat. These must have been brought by him when he invaded the
country. Skandagupta added two other types, one of base silver, with Siva’s
sacred bull Nandi, and the other with an altar, on the reverse, while the
obverse bore the dates and the head of the sovereign. These coins were
current in Saura^tra.

57. Coins of India, Prof. Brown, p. 16.

124

CULTURAL HISTORY OF GUJARAT

The powerful Maitraka rulers of Valabhi, who asserted their indepen-
dence at the end of 500 A. D. issued coins that bore the goddess Parvati, a
peacock and a Trisiila or trident.

Shortly after the Huna occupation of India, the Sassanians conquered
part of Western India, as can be seen from coins with bi-lingual inscriptions in
Pahlavi and Nagari, which are obvious imitations of Sassanian coinage in
base silver, thin and flat in the beginning like their originals, but thickening
and coarsening as the head on the obverse and the flre-altar on the reverse,
lost their pristine fineness with the passing of years. The curious coins
known as ‘Gadhtyd* which were circulated till a much later date both in
Gujarat and in Rajaputana also show traces of Sassanian origin.

Silver coins with the legend “Srimad Adi-Varaha” on the reverse, and
Visnu in his Varaha Avatara on the obverse, bear traces of a fire-altar below
the inscription, and have been attributed to Bhojadeva, the powerful
Gurjara-Pratihara king of Kanauj, whose family had formerly ruled in both
Rajaputana and Saurastra.''^ The last vestiges of the Greek alphabet had
disappeared from Indian coins by 400 A. D., but they retained the weight
and fineness of the Attic “drachma*’ (called ‘ Drammas’ in inscripion)
in certain localities, till at least 1100 A.D.

The centuries that elapsed between the Huna invasion and the coming
of the Musalmans in the 12th century, though pregnant with great possibi-
lities for the future, were yet singularly lacking in original art, as can be seen
from the coinage of the petty kingdoms. The stamp of the Bull and the
Horseman on Rajaput coinage symbolises the most important feature of
that period — the rise of the Rajaput clans to dominant power in ‘northern
India. We have, unfortunately, very few specimens of the coins used in
Gujarat during the reign of the Anhilwad kings. Siddharaja Jayasiihha’s
silver coins — seven from Pilvai (North Gujarat) and five from Vanthali (near
Junagadh) are recently discovered. The legend reads ‘ ’ and it has

an elephant on one side of the small silver coins.

Sulaiman, a merchant who visited Gujarat in 851 A. D., observes :
“shells are current in this, and serve for small money, notwithstanding that
they have gold and silver.” (Rasa Mala 1, p. 45). Contemporary literature
gives occasional allusions to mints (jiRgST*') from which we gather that

58. The inscription of Dharapi Varaha, 917 A. D.

53. Siddharsi, describing Bhilmalanagar in his UpamiHbhava Prapanca Kathd in
Saihvat 962, alludes to wealth as having settled in the mints, religion in god-
houses, and pleasures found in citizens— Vide Peterson’s Report, Vol. Ill,
Cambay MSS, p. 148

TBt IXMPOSAt FACTOS : POLITICAL HEIUTAO&-LAW AND GOVESNMEMT 125

there were mints in Bhimnal, the Gurjara capital, long before Mularija
came to the throne of Anhilwa^, and that Prthvipala, minister to Siddharaja
and Kumarapala was not only completely in charge of the mint, but even
had his name on the coinage" The same is said of Lahara Dandanayaka in
Vimalajtrahandha, There are occasional references to the chief money-markets
of Gujarat in the time of the Vaghelas. In Dholka and Cambay, mentioned
in the Gimar inscriptions of 1222 and 1232 A. D., extensive financial trans-
actions were carried on by Tejalj.pal, the Mantri of Viradhavala." The
political unrest in Gujarat accounts for the sparseness of coinage during the
Hindu period, as also the previous impoverishment of the country at the
hands of the Hunas, the Arabs and the armies of Ghazni. Moreover,
mercantile contracts in India have always been carried on largely by ‘Notes
of Hand ’ (Hunzts) and in times of disturbance these could be more safely
conveyed from city to city than coined money. Import of silver, also, was
stopped because the rise of the Arab power, and the coasequent disturbances
in Central Asia, interrupted trade between India and the West both by land
and sea.

The Pathans at Delhi kept to the ‘Bull and Horseman type’ of coinage
for a time, and inscribed their names and titles in the Nagari script, but the
engraving of images being forbidden by Islam, pictorial devices more or less
appeared on Indian coins." Both obverse and reverse henceforth bore
the inscription giving the king’s name and titles, and the date according
to the Hijrl era, and, also for the first time in the history of Indian coinage,
the name of the mint where the coins were struck. The inscribing of the
sovereign’s name on the coinage had a special importance for Muslims; for
this, along with the reading of his name in the Khutba or public prayer,
implied a definite assumption of regal power on his part. Another new feature
of these coins was the inclusion in the inscription of the Kalima or the for-
mula embodying the Muslim profession of Faith: “There is no God but AUah,
and Mahammad is the Prophet of Allah.” This practice sprang from the

60. Vide Prthvipala Praiaati, in a poem by Haribhadra Suri in S. 1223, Palm leaf MSS.

cTf ^ Sr I

gsMl 81 ^ ii

I am obliged to Papdit Lalcandra Gandhi of Oriental Institute, Baroda, for
these two references. (For original quotation see p. 316 of the original).

"iraow

I

61. The word is preserved in the proverb ‘ ^ wi ? ’, ‘ yspl § «T ’.

62. The coin referred to by Bhoja Bhakta cannot be traced. There were some
notable exceptions.

126

CULTURAL HISTORY OF GUJARAT

proselytizing zeal of the early Khalifs of Syria. The coinage underwent a
complete transformation in the time of Sher Shah, who adjusted pure copper
coins to his new standard silver coin, the rupee, which he had firmly esta-
blished as currency. Allaudin Khilji further changed the design by dropping
the name of the Khalif from the obverse, and substituted the self-laudatory
title “The second Alexander, the right hand of the Khalifat” on his silver
coinage. Mahammad Tughlaq, famous for the coins he issued in India, struck
gold dinars of 201.6 grains.

The coinage of the Sultans of Gujarat, at first chiefly of silver and
copper, followed the Delhi style, but soon developed characteristic features
of its own, although the copper coins retained the motif of their Delhi
originals, i. e., the Sultan’s name in a square. The standard was evident-
ly set by the Gujarati ‘rati’ weighing 1.85 grains. The first Persian coins
known were struck by Ahmad I (1411-43), founder of Ahmedabad (1411)
and of Ahmadnagar (1427). Mahmud I (1458-1511) set up two mints
at Mustafabad in Girnar, and Mahammadabad (Carhpaner) respectively.
His gold coins were the finest of all. His silver coins, ornate with legends
enclosed in hexagons, scalloped circles and other geometrical figures, bear
inscriptions that are, for the most part, simple : on the obverse various
titles and formulae, on the reverse the king’s name with, sometimes, his
‘laqab’ or title. Bahadur Shah (1526-36 A. D.) captured Mandu, the capital
of Malwa in 1530, and thence issued some copper coins. Gold pieces are
rare, save those issued by Mahmud III, The earlist Indian coins to bear a
Persian couplet were those issued by Mahmud II, dated A. H. 850.*”

Mo.st interesting arc the ‘ pedigree coins ’ of Gujarat, each struck for
some special occasion, on which the strikers trace their descent back to the
founders of their dynasties. One struck by Ahmad I and dated A. H. 828, is
the earliest known Gujarat coin of this type. Although most of the coins
seem to have been struck at Ahmedabad, the actual name of that town
appears only on the copper coinage of Muzaffar III, while Ahmadnagar is
mentioned by name on a copper coin of Ahmad I.

Muzaffar III gave permission to the Jama of Navanagar to coin ‘Koris’
(i.e., copper-pieces) on condition that they bore the name of the Sultan. Such
*koris’ were also coined for several countries by the chiefs of Junagadh and
Porbandar. The silver coins struck in the Junagadh mint are known as
‘Diwanshahi korls’, each kori worth l/3rd of a rupee, or 8d. They bore the

63. The inscription runs as this “So long as the sphere of the seat of the mint,
the orb of the Sun and Moon remains, may the coin of Mahmud Shah the
Sultan, the aid of the Faith, remain !“.

THE TBMPOSAL TACTOB : POLITICAt HERITAGE-LAW AND GOVERNMENT 127

Samvat year in Nagari characters, and the Hijrl year and an inscription with
the names of the Junagadh BabI and Sri Diwap in Persian. The smaUer
copper coin called ‘dokadd’, 24 for a Jamash^i, and 36 for a Junigadh Kori,
was further divided into ‘trambia’ (a copper coin), a half>dokada in value.

The coinage of Gujarat underwent a great change in the time of the
Mughals. The reform in the coinage, though completed by Akbar, was mostly
due to Sher Shah Surl, who introduced a new standard of 178 grains for
silver, called a ‘rupee’, and one of about 330 grains for copper called a “dam”,
which was divided into two, four, eight and sixteen parts." He also opened
a great number of new mints. We have already referred to the special value
placed on coining by Muslim sovereigns. Akbar used the coinage to
propagate his ‘ Din-e-Ilahi ’, or ‘ Divine Faith’. His ‘Ilahi’ coins, stamped
with the words ‘ AUah u Akbar ’ first appeared in 1579, his new regnal era.
His coins were very beautiful, but he was sparing in image-devices on his
coinage. The half -rupee seems to have been in special demand in Surat, and
in Akbar’s reign it was also the principal coin issued from Kabul. ‘ Nisars ’
were small pieces of silver occasionally struck for largesse. 'The Mughal
copper coinage, based on Sher Shah’s ‘dam’ was called ‘Sikkah fulus’,
meaning stamped copper money. ‘ Damra ’ was equal to a quarter dam, and
‘ damn ’ to l/8th of a dam. ‘ Tankdh ’ of 644 grains, with its half, quarter,
one-eighth and one-sixteenth parts was issued from the. Ahmedabad mint;
the ' tankt ’, equal to one-tenth of a ‘ tankdh’ was introduced by Akbar.

Jahangir’s coins are remarkable alike for beauty and originality of
design. In fact, both he and Akbar turned coinage into a medium of
artistic expression, so that it reached the height of its beauty during their
reigns. Coins stamped with Nur Jahan’s name along with his own, still
bear witness to the king’s great love for his brilliant queen.® In the
thirteenth year of his reign Jahangir issued coins stamped with the signs
of the Zodiac, but they remained only five months in circulation. His
earliest coins from the Ahmedabad mint bore the name ‘ Salim ’ — the name
he was known by inihe days before he became Emperor.

64. This reformed system of currency, that lasted throughout the Mughal period
and was continued by the East India Company down to 1835, was the basis of
British currency in India.

65. Surat and Ahmedabad, among other mint-towns, issued coins with the inscrip-
tion, “In the thirteenth year of the installation, Nur Jahan, wife of the king
Jahangir, son of king Akbar, Lady Governor of Ahmedabad.”

— B. G.IV., p. 254.

128

COLTUBAI. mSTORT OF COJAHAt

Aurangzeb, on re'^introducing the Jaziya, or Poll-tax on non-Muslims,
had a special coin struck in a number of mints, usually square in shape,
which he named the * Dirham-i-Shan\ or ‘legal dirham’.

Farruk Siyar (1713-1719 A. D.) lacking both in strength and money,
adopted the fatal policy of farming out the mints, whereupon the independent
and semi-independent chiefs and States started coins of their own, with the
nominal consent of the Delhi emperor, but almost invariably in his name, and
keeping to the Mughal style and superscription, which remained in force
right upto the 19th century.

The English Factory at Bombay or Mumbai, opened in the reign of
Farruk Siyar, reproduced the ‘ rupee * of the Mughal emperors.

The Marathas seized the important mint of Ahmedabad in 1752; and
the coins struck there were all in the Mughal style, bearing as a characteri-
stic mark the ^Ankush’ or elephant-goad. The Bhohsala Rajas captured the
Surat mint, which is mentioned by name on their rupees. The Gaekwar also
had a mint at Baroda, opened in about 1748, when the Nawab was independent
of the Emperor of Delhi, where pure metal was coined, until Scindia conquered
Broach and issued the ‘ Broach rupee, when alloy was introduced, the Broach
rupee being 15i( annas, and ‘ Babashai ’ 14 annas in value. The Baroda silver
coins were called ‘ Siyashahi ’ or, more often ‘ Babashai ’ with J, i and k pieces.
The regent Fatehsinh was called Baba Saheb, and the rupee was either
called after him, or after Babaji Apaji, one time Commander of the Gaek-
war’s army. As for Shiyashal, it is obvious that it must be the coinage of
Sayajlrao I, since there were no coins before his time. “The annual output
of silver coins from the Baroda mint amounted nearly eighty years ago to
about 75 lakhs of rupees,’’ °° and the currency circulated throughout the
Baroda, Mahl and Rewakantha States. The obverse side of the coin bore,
in Nagarl characters, the words ‘ Sikkay Mubarik, Sena-

khaskhel Shamsher Bahadur ’ in Persian character.

The Spanish dollar, or ‘ ral ’ worth about two rupees and a quarter,
which seems to have circulated in Gujarat about two centuries ago,*^ again
crept into the province from the neighbouring Portuguese settlements in
Dlv, and in Saiurastra, even cash land-taxes w^ere fixed in Spanish dollars in
the early days of the Maratha occupation.

66. Baroda Gazetteer, I, p. 354.

67. ^ *5:

^ ^ Jifl, d ^ ?

— gfirfk ^ («. \m\).

meaning “My words are as genuine as the rupee known as ral **.

THE TEMPORAL FACTOR : POLITICAL HERITAGE-LAW AND GOVERNMENT 129

A most important reference to the various coins current in Gujarat in
the 17th centiury is found in |lsabhadas’ Kumarapdla Raaa composed in
Samvat 1670 or 1614 A. D. He mentions (1) the gold coin known as
‘ Sonaiya or the ancient Suvarna; (2) the ‘hun’, a corruption of *honnu’,
Kanarese for a half-pagoda weighing about 30 grains of gold; (3) the
‘Abhrami’; (4) the ‘Laris’, curious silver coins of Bijapur, called fish-hook
money, which towards the end of the 16th century became one of the
standard currencies among traders in the Indian ocean; (The name is
derived from the port Lar, on the Persian Gulf, where this coin was first
struck.) (5) the ‘Asiri’, which may either be Assyrian coin, or, reading
‘Asiri’, as ‘Arisi’, the Roman gold coin; (6) the horsemen-stamped coins,
(7) silver ‘rals’, just explained above; (8) the coin last mentioned cannot be
identified.®

Lastly, we come to the public value of the coinage of Gujarat. Coins
with effaced inscriptions were not accepted as valid tender, for the letters on
the coin are of great import. So also, it is the bust or head on the coin that
matters, not the metal.® Premanand describing the incident of the “Hun^i”,
or the Bill of Exchange, written by Narasiriiha Mehta on Samalshah Sheth
of Dwarka puts these words into the mouth of the great devotee : — “Pay
him 700 rupees full, after ascertaining their exact weight; see that they are
not counterfeit, and are not yet circulated in currency, with their edges
intact, pure white, just fresh Irom the mint, which have stood the test of
heat, and are coined in broad day-light; which are neither of less weight
nor of larger (uncommon) size, struck only this year and have the latest
seal (or stamp).™

*5 ^ airs w w ”

— iw ', arr. «i. *r. 4l. « : 'i,

69. “ STO arsSR cT stig

f5I?t SW iriff % ^ B§.”

70. “ ^6% ^ arol

NSr? ^ IjRJ, 3rPT%

35rar, tnm 5t ?ri^t ^ I'sn,

^ 5ifi[, flter invJrT, ^1^*1 ^ aw'l siw.”

— JlwrsHr ‘1^’, «V5 ? :

130

CULTURAL HISTORT OF GUJARAT

A Hindi ‘Lavarti’ evidently composed in 1837, just after the British
currency was introduced, enunciates, in its very first line, a great truth
about the psychology of currency : “His coinage is really valid and deserving
respect, who wields authority with his sword." The Kalddr” has supplanted
all other currency; (because) the prowess of the Angrez is certainly overr
powering. They have established a just rule at Calcutta. As paper
drowned in water makes the ink (on it) washed out, so all other kingdoms
are drowned; and the (power of) throne at Delhi and Agra is now broken;
all other coinage is stopped; the Kalddr is the current coin.”

VII. Law and Administration

The Hindu law governing the people of Gujarat, which is held supreme
even to-day, was accepted during the rule of Mughal supremacy in the
province as holding good in law courts. It is interesting to record in this
respect that the benevolent rule of the great Mughals was instrumental here
also, in extending the Mayukha law to Gujarat Hindus. The history of this
compilation is worth a mention. Bhagavanta Rai, a Hindu king of a
small kingdom in the district where the Cambal meets the Yamuna— perhaps
dissatisfied with the Viramitrodaya, the compilation by one Mitramisra
for his patron Virasimha of Bundel Khand, who had at the instigation of
Salim, killed Abul Fazal, and hence was looked down upon by good Hindus—
secured the services of Nilakantha, the greatest Hindu jurist of his time, son
of Sankara Bhatt and the grandson of Narayana Bhatt, on whom Akbar had
conferred the title of ‘ Jagadguru Nilakantha (Circa 1620 A.D.) made a
complete compilation which is regarded as a standard work of Smrti all

71. “ W ^ 35MIT,

aPKSt ifiWI

sr?: :

w ^ ^

i:? sfiT ■'(tv.

~iH ?.

— MSS. Collection of the Forbes Gujarati Sabha, Bombay : Descriptive Cata-
logue, p. 241.

72. ‘ Kaldar ' from ‘ Kalld ' (head or bust) in Persian, meaning that which bears
the stamp of the head.

THE TEMPOBAL FACTOB ; POUTICAL HEBITAGK^LAW AMD OOVEBNMEMT 131

over India, except Bengal and Mithila. The work collectively goes under
the name of ‘Bhagavanta Bhaskara', from the name of the patron. Bach
book is a * Mayukha*— a ray — issuing from the Bhaskara or the Sim. These
two compilations — Viramitrodaya and Mayukha were — presumably made
during the reigns of the emperors Jahangir and Shah Jahan.

During the Maratha rule in Gujarat, administration of justice had been
sternly rough and ready. It was also expensive, as the first object of both
Civil and Criminal courts was to draw a revenue from the cases brought
before them. Even death-sentences for murder were commuted, on a pay-
ment of a heavy fine. During the years (1783-1805) when the Broach dis-
trict was under the government of the Marathas, places of trust even in the
judiciary were put up for sale and generally the farmer of revenue was the
Civil Judge also. Hence the important trust of administering civil and
criminal justice was in the hands of the farmers of revenues, whose neglect
of ever 3 rthing that offered trouble without a prospect of emolument, naturally
rendered the subjects restless and dissatisfied. In civil cases, the Ijardar or
Kamavisdar always demanded one-fourth of the sum which might be awarded
by the arbitrators, the whole of which share went to his own use and the
person who gained the cause became answerable for the payment of this
one-fourth. None of the proceedings of the case were committed to writing
beyond the Kamavisdar’s clerk, who entered in his diary the benefits
that accrued from the decision of any disputed point. And as the Kama-
visdar seldom resided in the district himself, he was in the habit of appointing
a clerk to officiate for him. It was no wonder, therefore, that such disputes
of a civil nature as arose concerning landed property and debt were almost
always submitted to the arbitration of the Pancayat.

Thus the government was limited by positive law, it was held in check
by the customs of the country which it was obliged to respect. In all disputes
concerning property, however, the Hindu or Mahomedan law, according to
the faith of the parties, directed the decision. In criminal cases, again the
Kamavisdar was the judge. But his power was to a certain degree limited,
for he was liable to be called to account by the Sarkar or Government for
excessive fines, and was not vested with the power of inflicting capital
punishment. In cases of oppression, too, the subjects might complain to the
Sarkar against him, and sometimes they succeeded.

As in Europe, in mediaeval times the system of justice was principally
one of the ordeals and oaths. However strong his case, the complainant pre-
ferred to compel the defendant to undergo an ordeal, or to take an oath;
while the defendant, on the other hand, often sought to anticipate him, to the

132

CULTURAL HISTORY OF GUJARAT

same judicium dei. Thus the point in dispute was often determined by the
success of one of the parties in putting the other upon his trial by oath or
ordeal; for, especially in the case of persons of character, it was held more
creditable to retire from the contest rather than to maintain it upon the
ordealistic ground.

The Marathas were not, as a rule, cruel in their proceedings in criminal
matters, except in their efforts to ascertain guilt. The usual punishments
inflicted were fines, imprisonment or banishment, and in very rare cases,
death. But almost every crime became commutable for money, and fines
were considered a regular branch of revenue. There was the Paficayat at the
base, which was the rude and ancient device of the people to whom govern*
ment could not give prompt and cheap justice; there were the Kamavisdars
whose real business was to get money out of the district they farmed, and to
whom civil and criminal justice was a strange wearisome task, excepting in
so far that fines brought in money.

We close this section of law and justice by a reference to a community
in Gujarat, which reserved to itself the rights of deciding civil as well as
criminal actions by its inmates. Caste-questions by Hindus were decided at
a meeting of the caste. Among Musalmans social disputes were settled by
the Kazi. Revenue matters were disposed of in the revenue office, in accord-
ance with the opinions of district hereditary officers and headmen of villages
or arbitrators. Though village Pancayats had powers to dispose of matters
relating to revenue and civil causes, yet the criminal cases v/ere only taken
cognisance of by them by being sent for final disposal to higher authorities.
The opulent community of Bohoras — the trading class — still possesses within
itself a strong governing power. Its civil and criminal disputes are settled
within the community and recourse is never had to the Government Law
Courts.’’’

VIII. Public Service

Generally the rulers utilized the services of local men who were
of greater use in the administrative work because of their close acquaintance
with the land and the people. But it is doubtful whether the highest places
were thrown open to the natives of the soil without any distinction of race,
colour or creed. The village autonomy and the undisturbed working of
revenue collection and preservation of peace in rural areas was done mostly
by hereditary officers of the place, who having their personal interests bound
up with the country they administered were generally prone to be just and
unoppressive. This was the civil side of public service.

73. Barodd Gazetteer, p. 347.

THE TEMPORAL FACTOR : POLITICAL HERITAG&-LAW AND GOVERNMENT 133

As regards commands in army the rulers had not so much faith in
their efl&ciency and strength; moreover the conquered race could not- be
supposed to be fit to guard the conquerer’s interests against a possible
invader. There are no doubt examples of Brahmin and Jaina brave
generals and soldiers during the Hindu period with equally solitary but
renowned names under the Mahomedan rule also. But the generality
of the people of Gujarat became unaccustomed to fight, for want
of any state support in the military vocation, and the stifling of the martial
spirit was completed by their becoming strict vegetarians. The Gujaratis
grew unaggressive and docile, generally leaving off fighting as a profession.
These then joined the middle class usually going by the name “Brahmana
Vania*', where Ksatriya, the second in the grade of the Varnas brushed
aside in the social fabric as inferior to a humanitarian Vaisya, who was
coming into prominence since Mularaja, effected the unification of the people
of Gujarat under one supreme rule, in the tenth century A. D.

Hence the whole Hindu mass of Gujarat, which became unfitted as
well as unwilling to fight, due to the dominance of the docile doctrine
of Ahimsa, has been likened by a writer to an elephant. In spite of its
enormous size and strength, the elephant is by nature timid and inoffensive
though it can be trained to fight and to courageously withstand fire : so
also the vegetarian Gujarati, when trained to fight, did perform deeds of
valour, and the heroic sentiment displayed in some of the heroic couplets,
quoted by Hemacandra in his Prakrt Grammar, presumably from current
floating literature in Gujarat, bears ample testimony to the prevalence of
martial spirit among Gujaratis. But the generality of the people were
rather afraid to endanger life, and naturally shrank at the least display
of a riot or military raid.

The most apparent cause of the disappearance of a warlike spirit
among Gujaratis, who had a brilliant past history of valour and military
achievement, seems to be the vast diminution in the fighting classes, as
an immediate outcome of the rigidity of caste about 1000 A. D. The fighting
people, the Rajputs, who by heredity and present occupation were fit and
disposed to fight, were being diminished by internecine fighting. The number
of those who could fight for independence of the community thus became
limited. Though later law-givers had attempted to lay open the military
profession for other Varnas, by laying do^^^n that though ordinarily it was
the duty of the Ksatriyas to take up arms, it was yet the duty of all the three
higher Varnas to defend with arms when religion was threatened; and
religion or Dharma, according to Hindu notion, included politics; and

134

CULTURAL mSTORY OF GUJARAT

imposition of the yoke of a foreign people and dogma, was certainly a
danger to religion.

But it was impossible to expect them to come to the mark of real
fighters, bred up as they were for generations in professions which were do-
cile, and in a spirit of submission. The rigidification of caste undermined the
growth of such a new feeling and the chance of the whole population being
a recruiting ground for an army, fighting for the nation's existence, was lost
for ever. Thus the Ksatriya population, together with aboriginal Kolis and
Bhils, were the only recruiting ground. It is indeed true, as shown above,
that the exception tests the rule Cexceptio prohat regulum*) rather than
prove it, viz., that the Brahmins and the Vaisyas, then as now, were as a
rule unwilling and even unfitted to take up arms. To add to this the
fortunes of Gujarat had completely changed with Allaudin's victory over
Hindu rule; and the Hindu was hunted down from his high position either
in the army or trade, and the prospects of a political life were sealed, until
partially relieved by the conciliatory policy of Akbar.

But then, this downtrodden state meant much more to the ideals of
society and the national character of Gujaratis, in whom the idea of ‘nation'
could not develop, and the people as a whole never thought of uniting to
oppose foreigner's conquest. Their only concern was preservation of their
race-purity in the caste-system and to guard against non-interference in the
rule and conduct of their guilds and Mahajans.

The life of Hindus was thus circumscribed to their social, industrial
and religious spheres of existence, and though they remained in Gujarat they
were not of Gujarat as far as political government was concerned, provided
they were left to themselves undisturbed in the enjoyment of civic rights.
The people did not think that the State was theirs and the king ought also
to be theirs. The country belonged to the king and any one might be king
whom God chose. Under this view of the State, the sentiment of nationality
could not arise, nor could the virtue of patriotism grow in such a soil.
There was the sentiment of loyalty no doubt; to die for ^he Master was the
highest dharma of a Rajput soldier. But when the master failed and another
master was substituted by will of God, the soldier was ready to die for him
also. Thus are found Hindu soldiers, Rajputs, Brahmins and Vaisyas, dying
for Mahomedan kings and masters.

Let us examine the principles followed in throwing open the higher
services to the Hindus by the predecessors of the great Mughuls in Gujarat.
The intensity of Islamic penetration having been spent when the Mahomed-
ans turned their attention to the administration of their newly conquered

THE TEMPORAL FACTOR ; POLITICAL HERITAGE-LAW AND GOVERNMENT 135

dominions, they found it no easy task. History will bear out that warriors
and adventurers are no doubt a great asset to the State, but a State in order
to be firm and lasting cannot live by means of war alone : and it must look
for its vitality in directions other than the strength of the sword.

Administration of the conquered territory is a sine qua non of every
conquerer. But the Mahomedans were at a discount, who, as adventurers
and warriors had flocked to the Crescent to wage holy war against the in-
fidels, but had failed, when the services of the artisans and colonists were
required. The same remark holds good in the case of the Marathas who were
bom soldiers in their occupation of Gujarat, but they lacked miserably the
art of government. Though reluctant, the conquerers had mainly to depend
on the conquered for their invaluable aid in the realm of architecture
agriculture, domestic service, coinage, medicine, and building of houses and
the like. The collection of revenue was mainly entrusted to the children
of the soil.

With the march of time, a fair percentage of Hindus was recruited for
the army and we come across occasional glimpses of Hindus getting up
the highest offices of the realm under the Sultans of Gujarat and the Mughal
emperors. One great disqualification of the Hindus, it has been urged,
which debarred them from filling higher posts, was their lack of knowledge
of Persian and Arabic, the language of the rulers. This want of knowledge
of Persian and Arabic was entirely due to the aversion and antipathy of
the Hindus towards the Mahomedans, the Hindus with their rigid caste
regulations looked down upon the acquirements of the language of the latter
that being an act of pollution, akin to their loss of caste.”

Events moved quickly to the relaxation of the Hindu orthodoxy and
Persian became later on a widely read language; so much so, that the
Hindus outstripped sometimes the Mahomedans in composition, prose and
verse. The joint author of Mirat-i~Ahmadl, Kayastha Mithalal, is a glaring
example in point. The surname ‘Munshi’ accepted by certain Hindus, as
we find in a stone-inscription on the Mahammadabad gate at Radhanpur,
dated 1777 A. D., where Mehta Dinanath, decidedly a Hindu, is described
as the composer and writer of the inscription in Persian."

74. Cf, Krsparam’s fling at the study of Persian by Brahmins :

“ wftraNr ftTs,

fftTfi, JtOT ”

75. Bhavnagar Inscriptions, p. 51.

136

CULTURAL mSTORY OF GUJARAT

The assimilation of the Hindu Chiefs by marriage alliances, the throw-
ing open of the highest stations in the service to the men of intellect without
any distinction of caste and creed, and giving a dead seal to the obnoxious
tax which made the invidious distinction between the Hindus and the Maho-
medans — was the chief feature of Akbar’s reign.

We would mention one instance under the Sultans of Gujarat, when
a Brahmin soldier was holding an important military command, Malek
Gopi or Gopinath, a Vadnagara Nagar, who sank the Gopi Talav and
founded Gopipura, a suburb of Surat, by the end of the 15th century A. D.,
was a minister of Muzaffar Shah and had risen to power through Mahmud
Begda’s favour. He had interceded for Bhima, the Raja of Idar, and had
obtained from the Sultan forgiveness for his resistance. He helped Muzaffar
Shah to come to the throne, and held the reins of administration of his
government with Kava-ul-mulk Sarang.’® He had done his best to alleviate
the horrors of the great famine of 1482 A. D., which visited Gujarat, by
freely entertaining the famine-stricken with plenty of food.

One Krpasankar Lalji was also a Nagar Brahmin warrior of
Mahudha, District Kaira, who was in command of 10,000 soldiers and had
gained a victory for Rustamali Khan against Hamid Khan, a claimant for the
governorship of Surat. The account of the incident has been preserved for
us, curiously enough by a poet of the type of Samal Bhatt, in Rustam
Bahadur no Pavddo^ This is again corroborated by another historical
ballad, Kripdsankar Lalji, Nagar Mahudhid no Rdsado, in the MSS.
collection of Dahilaksmi Library, Nadiad. We read of a Nagar Brahmin
Sarhbhuram, the minister of Momin Khan who had taken Ahmedabad
(1755), driving back all assaults of the Maralhas and at times dashing out in
the most brilliant and destructive sallies— the Brahmin playing the role
of a soldier of note.’^ These incidents are specially important as showing
Brahmins being in charge of responsible military offices under the
Mahomedan rule, the ‘Pavado’ of Samal Bhatt being composed almost
contemporaneously with the incident.

To give an example from the Maratha period in Gujarat, one
Jagannath Laldas, a Surat merchant and Company’s broker, when he was
placed in prison by the Company’s servants, made good his escape and

76. Vide the ^ \ a eulogy of Gopinath by his protege poet Hira,

published in the Library Miscellany, 1914, by the late C. D. Dalai.

77. Edited by Dr, H. Bhayani (1956) for Forbes Gujarati Sabha, Bombay.

78. Bombay Gazetteer, Vol. IV, p. 258, foot-note.

THE TEBIPOSAL FACTOB : POLITICAL HERTTAGB-LAW AND GOVERNMENT 137

hastened to the Marathas’ camp (1738), where he was well received, taken
into service, and entrusted with an important military command, the duties
of which he discharged efficiently. This episode in Jagannath’s life is
interesting, as showing that among the Vanias, centuries of trading had
not deprived them all of that capacity for military affairs, which in the times
of the ancient Hindu rule, had made men of his caste the greatest
commanders of the Anhilwad kings.'”

79. Bombay Gazetteer, Vol. II, p. 112, foot-note.

Chapter V

THE SOCIAL FACTOR ; MARRIAGE AND FAMILY

A set of adjustments, peculiar to human beings, which arises from the
fimdamental fact of sex, and the necessity for the preservation of the race,
developed into an institution which we know as ‘Marriage and Family*.
Such adjustments are as necessary as devices for securing food and even
more so than organised self-defence or systems of law and government; for,
whereas the latter lift the race to a plane above the purely bestial, the former
are indispensable to the continuation of any ordered form of existence
whatsoever. Unlike the plants and lower animals, human babies require the
combined support and protection of their parents in order to attain a healthy
maturity, and this is only possible if the parents live together in a relationship
not existing in nature but demanded by social custom, viz., Marriage.

There was, however, something more fundamental in primitive marri-
age than mere desire to protect the young. It was predominantly an econo-
mic alliance, a case of co-operation in the struggle for existence. Woman,
physically weaker than man, seldom went in for strenuous hunting or fight-
ing, preferring to tend the fire and carry the household goods from camp to
camp. There was division of labour perfectly satisfactory to men and women
alike, whereby each sex complemented and so perfected the other, and made
it possible for the household machinery to run with the minimum amount of
friction and the maximum amount of efficiency. Such a division of labour,
or specialization of functions, accompanied by mutual co-operation between
the sexes, is known as ‘Marriage’, and it is practised in some form or other
by nearly all known people; it is but a step to the organization known as
the ‘Family*.

Men have quarrelled all through history over property and women;
and it was for the welfare of society that a woman should somehow be as-
signed to some particular man and that man’s- right to her person and labour
be firmly guaranteed by custom and by law. This was one of the ways of
securing the peace and order which are necessary to the welfare of any
society. And when there was property to inherit, it was of the utmost im-
portance to know just what persons in the next generation were to get it.
The heirs were the legitimate children, that is to say, the children of the
woman who had been married to the deceased owner of the property in the

THZ SOCIAli FACTOR: UARRIAOE AMD FAIOLT

139

way recognized by the tribe as customary and proper. This prevented die*
putes over the other great cause of quarrelling, viz., property.

Within the general institution of marriage developed the organization
known as ‘Family’. This was a combination of all those who were related,
or were supposed to be related, by blood, also generally including the women
who had married male members and sometimes the men who had married
female members. The family was an organization which further harmonised
the interests of all members, generally under the authority of a patriarch
or father-ruler, and amounted to a sort of miniatiire government with all
the virtues of such, in keeping peace and order. In fact, the family was one
of the peace-groups within which the children were reared and disciplined.

The fundamental unit of civilised society is not the individual but the
family. The family leads the individual out of his seclusion, deprives him
of his egoistic selfishness and lifts him to a more elevated selfishness in
order that he should enjoy a higher life with his fellow-individuals. Social
progress finds men in many social groups. Each of these groups moulds and
reshapes a man. It expresses and develops a particular phase of man’s
personality. But the foundation of them all is the Family, which is at once
the unit of activity and the unit of enjoyment which supplies, as it were,
the link of all social relationships.

The Hindu family, "joint in food, worship and estate’’, is the economic
and social nucleus of Hindu society, being a group of individuals descending
from a common ancestor within seven generations. The family consists of
the man and woman, their sons, grandsons and great-grandsons, who live
together sharing the common purse. This system tends to develop a spirit
of self-sacrifice, mutual control, and inter-dependence, which are quite
opposed to the competitive individualistic spirit, the key-note of modern
industrialism. The Hindu joint family is peculiar in that it is very ancient,
that it concentrates on perpetuating the family and, at the same time,
maintaining the purity of blood, and that, in its turn, it gives rise to the
larger aggregate, the caste or the sub-caste.

The influence on our socio-economic life of the ideals on which the
Hindu joint-stock Family system is based is immense. The head of the
family must marry its younger members at the proper time, must offer
oblations to the manes, and propitiate the titulary deities. Marriage is a
sacrament, and its supreme object is to perpetuate a family, a patrimony
and a faith; it is compulsory at a particular* age, individual likes and dislikes
being of little importance; nor are economic considerations allowed to
stand in the way of a marriage, for the family provides adequate maintenance
for a man’s wife and children, even if he have no income of his own.

140

CULTURAL HI8TORT OF GUJARAT

The joint-family system is an excellent school for discipline, self*
sacrifice and obedience to and service of elders. It has, also, some advant-
ages on the economic side. All the members of the family take their share
of domestic work, and, wherever possible, contribute their bit towards
swelling the family exchequer by lending a hand with the particular
business which is their means of livelihood. Thus the youngsters are
spontaneously educated in the little secrets of their arts and crafts. The
joint income is shared by all the members according to individual need. The
widowed and the orphaned, the disabled and the aged, are duly looked
after. Thus the joint family dispenses with the necessity of poor relief at
public cost.

But in its practical working, this system is by no means ideal. It is a
cause of over-population, lethargy, domestic squabbles and, often enough,
bitter feuds. The position of widows in the joint family is often deplorable.
It is a foe alike of initiative, ambition, and the accumulation of wealth.
Gradually, however, with the changes in our economic conditions there arose
a desire for personal liberty, which necessitated a change in the idea of the
family as an economic unit.

Perhaps the earliest indication of this change in our country was the
differentiation between patrimony and self-acquired property, effected before
the age of Manu. Both Manu and Mitdksara emphasized this distinction.
Family property, unlike self-acquired property, could neither be gifted nor
sold, but was held in trust for the unborn generations. Birth, adoption or
marriage into a family gave one a right to the joint property. Buddhism,
however, fundamentally changed the conception of property rights. The
theory of joint-ownership was abandoned, and far greater emphasis was
placed on partition rights. Not self-acquired property alone, but even the
patrimony could be alienated by the Karta or head of the family. The
patrimony was dissipated, the joint family system endangered. To check
the excesses of individualism, the Dayabhaga School gave a new inter-
pretation to the doctrine of Samudaya, and made a new code whereby the
sons had no right to the ancestral property during the father’s lifetime, and
could not enforce partition against the father’s will, and which provided two
shares for the father in case he made a partition during his life-time. On
the other hand, the father lost the power of alienating the ancestral property
at will. The joint family property was thus saved from complete
disintegration.

The evils of the joint family system had been intensified by the
systems of inheritance and succession, which recognised only the right of

THK SOCIAL FACTOR: MABRIAOB AND FAMILY

141

inheritance. The land was divided into many small estates, which were
continually sub-divided and became overburdened with mortgages. No
accumulation of wealth in one family was possible. The economic stress
turned men’s minds to new ways of acquiring wealth by trade, industry, gov-
ernment service, and other professions, and they did not invest their gains in
immoveable property. The land lost its hold upon them, and the family
wealth was soon scattered and the family ruined. Quarrels and bitterness
became the order of the day, there was no discipline, the elders were unduly
harsh, the youngsters bitterly rebellious — in short, the Hindu home became
a source of endless distraction and embarrassment.' The inmates of the
family gradually came to disregard their old joint system altogether, and
repudiated all obligations save those they owed to their nearest kith and kin.

This individualistic spirit is mirrored in the social ballads of Gujarat;
an extreme case of which is a popular song, known as ‘ Kera Kanfo ’. The
new housewife, according to whose ideas, the family consists of ‘ f , t and ^ ’
— the three personal pronouns ‘I’, ‘You* and ‘He’ representing husband, wife
and children and none else — does not brook the interference and elderly
supervision of the father-in-law, as well as the presence of the mother-in-
law, with a grandmotherly love for all the children of the joint family; and
so also the sister-in-law, who, after she left her parental house naturally
cherished kindest regards for the horaq of her childhood; not only these
inmates of the family she dislikes but also sympathetic neighbours of the
family are even not suffered to live close by her, who has her own notions
of individualistic ideals of a family. Accordingly, she addresses her Lord

to be relieved of these “thorns” in her even way.*

1. Cf., Principal Anandsahkar Dhruva’s 'I’ft ” p. 486 :

“ 3rfq«Rfi 3II5SB 3H si's; dt f5>W5RI W

tSS, ^ >4 SIR 15, qoti ^ 3)?r am

^ sufR qg mi SIR 3 ! ”

2 . “ 5 i ^ •'

Ft ^ ^

KJTT §?fr :

fi % qat ! T< 2 I%,

'PH 4isn sHw mr : hfhI—

fi % ^ 'ntR(®i5i «[st,

: ipr HP#—”

142

CULTDSAL mSTOSY OF GUJABAT

This sign of disintegration marked the end of the Joint Family
system in Gujarat and it dates back to about the 12th Century A. D.' That
the women had a great hand in this is plain from certain poems, which,
although usually passed over as commonplace and unimportant, yet have
immense value for the student of Sociology. Thus we find that the lady
of the house was really the queen of her domain, and apt to be somewhat
severe and domineering in the exercise of her luiquestioned authority, which
came to be resented by the younger members of the family. The daughter-
in-law, finding herself a mere nonentity, a household drudge, with no scope
for the development of her own individuality or the fulfilment of her own
desires, went about her duties with outward meekness but inward rebellion.
She thought it unfair that her husband’s earnings should go to keep the
whole family, and she was always trying to persuade her husband to set up
a separate establishment of their own.* Surabhat, in an unpublished poem
called Kali Mahima (composed in S. 1704) gives us a vivid picture of the
society of his own times from which it is plain that the attitude of the
daughter-in-law generally considered perverse by society at large, was

3. "That family from which the brothers have separated, is degraded, and mem-
bers living separate are disregarded, being crippled. That shortsighted person
who strikes at the root of family-bonds and separates, loses even the residue
by division.”

“ ^ I 5r ^ 51 II

31 I 3# II”

‘ Charchari ’ by Jinadattasuri — G. O. Series, No. XXXVII, p. 77.

4. See also, Lavapyasamaya’s Vimalaprabandha (Samvat 1568) about the signs of
the times in Gujarat in the middle ages :

“ sre aft faro hri i a aifeg urt ftr jirt'ii

ajnrn ^ am ^ aa; i ’rig ^ aia; ii
Jira anal an ^ i aar afia faa ii ”

— siaa, ^ a;^ to-u.

Also, see, Bhima’s ‘Harilild’ (Saihvat 1541) : '

“ frar aaifif ^ 1 aift ftiwra ^ aiaa ii
¥ira.«fe(t 31 5? «[3r I efOTift agsiftr scrsi ii
a<wa TO I ’in% fta ii

3na an*!! %aT i a^, *1^ ii

3i5wift am 3iat asnK i ^ anrna 3 jk n

TOa 5faK i ai'l ftg, aia 3?5 k m ”

— alTOT ‘aft^tprar^’, ao'-.

THE SOCIAL FACTOR : MARRIAGE AMD FAMILY

143

not to improve with the march of time.* An imdue preference given to the
wife’s relations, especially to her sister, has, ftom mediaeval times, been a
prominent feature of Hindu home-life, as we can see from the Kalikala no
Garaho* by Vallabhabhatt (Saihvat 1790), Govindarama in Kalijugano
Dharma' (V. S. 1837) and Kysnaram in Kalikala Varnana (V. S. 1874)* —
which confirm Vallabhabhatt, and bewail the approaching disruption of
the joint family.

Marriage is regarded as sacred; even the gods are married. When the
Hindu descends from the adoration of the Absolute and takes to the wor-
ship of a Personal God, his god has always a consort. He does not worship a
bachelor or a virgin. Siva is Ardhanarlswara and his image signifies the
co-operative, interdependent, separately incomplete but jointly complete
masculine and feminine fimctions of the supreme being. There is nothing
unwholesome or guilty about the sex life. Through the institution of mar-
riage, it is made the basis of intellectual and moral intimacies. Marriage is
not so much a concession to human weakness as a means of spiritual growth.

5. Cf., Koli Mahimd by Surabhat (Saihvat 1704), almost a contemporary utterance
as of Rgmadas in Ddsabodha (1664 A. D.) ;

“ ^ I tC flliT II

^ awSf I ^ ^ ii

RJiw 1 MW wf II

5^ ^ I Riat (IRRiWI# 5% II

sii*r vif, I #1-^ g w ? II ” etc.

— (MSS. in my collection).

6. “ ?t ft % d# siw. ”

— q?5W.

7. “ #1 *11^3 sf

^ :

^ »IR|r §1, «FRl qfYqi 1^.

RRpft fwm nff >4f>;

iiRn% qg jq snO qft ! ”

8. “ ftdi jw sit,

smr siRTJit gm h *rtt.
gni swi, qit

SK «n 5nC 5M, >TRr ! ”

144

crmrusAL msTOBY or oujabat

'.%■ ' '

It is prescribed for the sake of the development of personality as well as the
continuance of the family ideal. Marriage is not so much a concession to
human weakness as a means of spiritual growth. It is prescribed for the
sake of the development of personality as well as the continuance of the
family ideal. Marriage has its social side. Every family is a partnership
between the living and the dead. The Sraddha ceremony is intended to im-
press the idea of the family solidarity on the members. At the end of the
ceremony the performer asks “Let me, O fathers, have a hero for a son !”

The Hindu ideal emphasises the individual institution of marriage.
Man is not a tyrant nor is woman a slave, but both are servants of a higher
ideal to which their individual inclinations are to be subordinated. Sensual
love is sublimated into self-forgetful devotion. Marriage for the Hindu is a
problem and not a datum. Except in the pages of fiction we do not have a
pair agreeing with each other in everything, tastes and temper, ideals and
interests.’ Irreducible peculiarities there will always be, and the task of
the institution of marriage is to use these differences to promote a har-
monious life. Instincts and passions are the raw material which are to be
worked up into an ideal whole. Though there is some choice with regard to
our mates, there is a large element of chance in the best of marriages. Carve
as we will, that mysterious block of which our life is made, the back-view
of destiny or chance, whatever we may call it, appears again and again in it.
That marriage is successful which transforms a chance mate into a life-com-
panion. Marriage is not the end of the struggle, it is but the beginning of a
strenuous life where we attempt to realize a larger ideal by subordinating
our private interests and inclinations. Service of a common ideal can bind
together the most unlike individuals. Love demands its sacrifices. By res-
traint and endurance we raise love to the likeness of the divine. In an ideal
marriage the genuine interests of the two members are perfectly reconciled.

The perfectly ethical marriage is the monogamous one. The relation
of Rama and Sita, of Savitri and Satyavana, where the two stand by each
other against the whole world, is idealised in the Hindu scriptures. In the
absence of absolute perfection we have to be content with approximations.
Eight different kinds of marriage are recognized in the Hindu law-books.
Manu did not shut his eyes to the practices of his contempararies. He

9. Cf., A couplet known as 'Kfcdyai^u’, a ‘doggerel’ sung generally in Southern
Gujarat ;

“ 3ir ^ sPFmi 51

— % *fo541 ”

Also Cf., Surabhat: “ ^ i|K, inft ”

145

¥ac social fACTOft ; MARRIAQS AND FAMILV :

arranged the different kinds of marriages in an order. It seems that the
human race had wrestled with this need of adjustment to the fact of sex,
more or less gropingly from the most primitive stages. Every thinkable
arrangement had been tried; polygamy, where a man had several wives;
polyandry, where a woman had several husbands; and monogamy where one
husband had one wife at a time. While marriages in which personal incli-
natioxis were subordinated ranked high, those by mutual choice (Gandharva) ^
force {Rak^asa), purchase (Asura), came lower. The lowest was Paisa ca^
when the lover ravished a maiden without her consent when she was asleep
or intoxicated or deranged in mind. It was a very low kind of marriage,
but admitted as valid by the laudable motive of giving the injured women
the status of wives and their offspring legitimacy.

Insistence on the interests of the family led to a compromise of the
monogamous ideal. While the monogamous ideal is held up as the best,
polygamy was also tolerated. When one has no male offspring or when by
mistake or chance he seduces a woman when he is married, it was his duty
to protect her from desertion and from public scorn, save her from a life of
infamy and degradation, and protect her children who were in no way res-
ponsible for the ways of their parents; polygamy was thus permissible. The
story of the Ramayana has, as one of its lessons, the evils of polygamy.
The palace of Dasaratha was a centre of intrigue; and Rama, the hero of the
story, stands up for the monogamous ideal. The recognition of marriage
requires us to regard the marriage-relation as an indissoluble one.

The joint family revolves upon the ring of the caste, which is nothing
but a collection of such families or joint families, as can intermarry and
interdine. The marriage aspect of the caste system, is of greater importance
and is more fundamental than food or drink. If it were not for the regulations
relating to marriage, the restrictions regarding food and drink would have
been insufficient to maintain the institution. Its end and object was to keep
society rigidly divided into a number of permanent groups and to prevent
them from amalgamating. This could not be accomplished without pro-
hibiting marriages outside the group. Though originally caste 'arose out of
the solution of the problem of racial conflict, indiscriminate amalgamation
was not encouraged by the Hindu thinkers. The Hindu scriptures recognise
the rules about food and marriage which the different communities were
practising. Manu recommended marriages, of members of the same caste
(savarna); he tolerated marriages of men with women of the lower caste
(Anuloma). Though he does not justify Pratiloma marriages, i. e., marri-
ages of women of the higher castes with men of the lower, he describes the
various progeny of such a marriage; while they were not regarded as pro-

146

CULTURAL HISTORY OF GUJARAT

per, there is no doubt that they prevailed. Castes of a mixed type have been
formed in order to regularize the position of groups originally proceeding
from marriages forbidden or discountenanced by custom or law, but condoned
after a time. Some of these groups which are to-day regarded as “untouch-
able” are said to have arisen by indiscriminate crossing.

The caste rule, under which a Hindu of the higher classes lives,
requires him to marry a woman of his own social group, but prohibits him
from marrying a woman of his own clan or ‘Gotra’. He is, thus, between
two circles. He may not marry outside the larger circle and he may
not marry within the inner one. The larger circle is known as the
‘endogamous’ {gamos, Greek for marriage) or marrying in group. The
smaller one is the ‘exogamous’ or marrying out of the group. Even the
endogamous group was sometimes limited by a social custom known as
‘hypergamy’ or marrying up, i.e., one must marry his daughter in a sub-caste
either above or at least equal to his own. In it, we see the feeling which
inspired Manu’s invective against marriages of women with men of lower
degree. It is a very inconvenient custom, especially so far as the Rajaputs
were concerned, and is largely responsible for the existence in the past
of the barbarous practice of female infanticide. The higher the class, the
greater was the clansman’s difficulty to find a husband for his daughter; and
as an unmarried daughter was a disgrace to the house, the punctilious
Rajaput in old days had sometimes to make away with baby-daughters.

To the woman, marriage is the incident of all incidents, that one action
to which all else in life — even the birth of her first male child— is subsidiary
and subordinate. Marriage is to her more than an incident however
revolutionary. It is rather the foundation of a -new life, indeed a new life
itself. For her henceforth, her whole existence is her married life. ‘Half-
body’ the Sanskrt poets say, not untruly, of the married woman.

To the Hindu, marriage is something deeply spiritual, a means whereby
two souls may attain their ultimate goal, each helping, encouraging, streng-
thening the other. The rites and ceremonies, preceding and during the
Gujarati Hindu wedding, make that quite clear. Betrothal can take place
only if the horoscopes of the prospective bride and the bridegroom agree;
they must belong to the same sub-division of the caste, but they must not
belong to the same gotra. Marriages are generally settled by the parents so
that desire or personal preference may not disturb the ordinances of
Heaven.

At the time of marriage, the names of the ancestors both of the boy
and the girl are recited, in order to emphasize the significance of marriage

no; sociAt fACrott: maMIiagc and camily

147

as a means to the perpetuation of the race. As the auspicious moment
approaches, the bride and the bride-groom are made to sit facing each
other, or side by side, before the objects of worship,” their right hands
joined, a strand of red cotton with the Madanfala fruit (Min^hahi) tied to
their wrists, a cloth drawn like a screen between their faces. The priests
chant Sanskf t verses, the astrologer consults the water-clock, and when the
exact moment has arrived, the cloth is withdrawn, and round the sacred
sacrificial fire the couple take those ‘ seven steps ’ (Saptapadi) which
make the marriage indissoluble. The bride -groom turns to his wife and
utters the sacred verse, “Oh Bride, give your heart to my work, make your
mind agreeable to mine. May the God Bjrhaspati make you pleasing to
me”; and, in his turn, he swears not to transgress, whether for love or
wealth. Then they go out and look upon the Polar Star, the star which
guided the first Aryan wanderers across Asia.

Is it not a significant thing that the bride and bridegroom are made to
fast when others are feasting ? That, when all others are decked in fine
clothes and ornaments, the bridal pair wears nothing but the simple white
of sanctity and saintliness, tinged with saffron ? They are anointed with
perfumed oils, rubbed with yellow pigments, and given purifying baths in
the sacred presence of Aditya and Randala— the Sun and his Consort. In
the full presence of all those assembled, the bridegroom takes the hand
of the bride, and both play the conventional wedding games in the presence
of the sin-destroying Family-Goddess. Their first meal together is taken in
the presence of the all-purifying fire. The chanting of sacred and solemn
Mantras mingle with jests and sportive songs, sung by relatives.

10. See OkhaharaV'a by Premanand

“ srfirewr %ar«r, gsn snO# ^ i

... I

^ •

V. fmi ?^ws5i<r* «ipi i

qfURH % wr tel I
. • •
tr Pift 'RPT, Jiigsft wa hr i

iswc aal I a#, i ” etc.

148

CULTUllAL MISTOSY OF fitJJAlUf

Every incident of the wedding manifests a keen awareness of the
spiritual underlying and pervading the physical side of marriage. The
wedding ceremony is often a sort of rehearsal of the future duties of the
pair, a foreshadowing of their attitude towards one another. The man
leads, the woman follows; the woman cooks and feeds the man; their gar-
ments are tied together, a symbol of the bond that holds them; and it reveals
what is expected from the wife — ^faithfulness, industry, and fruitfulness.
The man is actually lord and master, the woman his willing servant —
although the bridegroom says as they walk around the sacred fire : “Let
us live together and take counsel of one another.” And again : “By taking
these seven steps, we become friends !

These wedding ceremonies were most important in more ways than
one, for they gave the necessary publicity to the event. There was no other
way of getting publicity and the recollections of living witnesses were the
only records.

Marriage was a spirtual connection as well as a bond of love; and
wifehood was almost a religion in itself to the Hindu woman, involving the
greatest love and self-surrender. Young girls worshipped, and worship even
to-day, ^liva and Parvati, Krsna and Tulasi, observe the socio-religious vows
called ‘Vrofas’, praying for a worthy husband and the gift of sons. Pre-
manand’s Okhaharana offers a popular instance of this mental attitude.

The prohibition of widow-remarriage among the Aryan castes is an
ancient custom among the Hindus, as old as the Sutras or perhaps the Vedas;
yet the prohibition was not, of course, universal. Al-Beruni (1050 A. D.)
says rightly of his time, that widows could not remarry; they might either
burn themselves on the pyre of their dead husband or lead an ascetic life.
“The widows of kings” he observes, “are usually burnt, unless they are old
or have sons alive.”" Thus women once married could not be remarried
—at least in the three higher castes. Those castes which had not yet set up
a claim to the higher ceremonial purities were free to compound with human
desires by a second marriage devoid of sacramental significance. It was in
the higher classes that the woman had to pay for the pride of the caste by
her individual austerities.

The new custom of child-marriage which grew about the 10th century
A. D. combined with the ancient custom of the prohibition of the widow-
remarriage led, in due time, to the miserable class of women among high-class

10“. See, Premfinand’s Okhaharar^a.

11. Sachau, Vol. I, page 155.

THE SOCaAL FACTOR : MARRIAGE AND FAMILY :

149

Hindus called ‘child>widows *; and strangely enough, the rule of Manu-Smrti
which provided for the remarriage of girls whose husbands died before con-
summation of marriage, was also at this time put into abeyance by a
Kalivarjya provision. We come across the force of this convention which
had become a social control on the minds of the higher castes in the historical
instance of Jaga^u’s daughter (about Samvat 1300), who was widowed just
idter the marriage. Jaga^u, a millionaire and a devout Jaina of Bhadresvara
(Kaccha) , at this calamity, came forward to marry her to another man, after
having obtained the consent of the elders of his caste; but at this juncture,
two old but nobly-born and clever widows from his caste, decked with rich
ornaments, approached him and spoke in clear terms as follows : “If you are
on a look-out for a husband for your widowed daughter, do find us also new
husbands.” At these words of bitter irony, Jagadu looked down for shame>
an*!! he refrained from taking the bold step against the caste conventions.
As a result, Jagadu encouraged his daughter to a life of asceticism.”

A solitary but equally prominent example coming up as a glaring
exception to the prohibition of widow-remarriage occurs in the life of the
reputed Vastupala and Tejahpala, the twin-ministers of Viradhavala, the
sons of Kumaradevi, a child-widow. This fact though passed over as humi-
liating to his patron by Somesvara in his eulogistic poems, is none the less
faithfully recorded by Jaina writers. Haribhadrasuri, while discoursing
at Patan, was pointedly casting looks at a child-widow, named Kumaradevi.
At the end of the discourse, he being questioned by Asvaraja, an Osval
Vaisya by caste who was present there, the Suri spoke in a prophetic strain :
“She will be the mother of two sons shining bright like the sun and the
moon of Jainism; therefore marry her.” And thus were the two ministers
born of the union of Asvaraja and Kumaradevi. But then this exception
strengthens the fact of the convention rather than weakens it.

thild-marriages came into vogue owing to people’s desires to prevent
women becoming Buddhist nuns. Buddhism allowed only women of grown-
up age to become nuns; and hence the marriage of girls at an early age must
have become popular as a precaution. Buddhism was suppressed towards
the end of the 8th or 9th century A, D,, and the custom of child-marriage
must have grown further into popular favour.'”

Child-marriages, as far as we can tell, came into practice between
800 and 1000 A. D. It is difficult to say 'why, but certainly not because

12. Cf. Sn Jagadu Caritom, CaqtQ III, verges 21-27,

13. Vaidya, III, page 399,

150

CULTUBAL BISTORT OT GUJARAT

of Muslim oppression; for they were already prevalent in 1030 A. D.
Al'Beruni mentions them,** and he obviously speaks from experience,
not hearsay. Perhaps the climate of this country, which brings early
maturity both to boys and girls, had something to do with it. Be that
as it may, Hindu parents believed that their primary duty towards
their children was to get them married. Custom as well as the Sastras
enjoined the marriage of girls under ten. In Gujarat, where inter-caste
marriages were out of question, people were compelled to marry their
daughters at such times as might be most convenient to the bridegroom,
for fear, lest all the eligible young men might be snapped up, by other girls.
Early betrothals further encouraged this custom. Betrothal of a son not
yet out of the cradle" was considered to be an indication of high position in
the caste. Moreover, in spite of all the strictures to the contrary, girls were
but too often sold to the highest bidder (sometimes very old men), and thbir
guardians married them off as soon as possible in order to be on the safe side
(cf.

An extreme custom of infant-marriages prevails among Kadava
Kanabis. Tiny children and even unborn children are married, when
pregnant women walk round the “Cori” on the understanding that if their
children are a boy or a girl, the couple will marry. If a suitable husband could
not be secured for a girl, she was married to a bunch of flowers, which were
afterwards thrown into a well or a river; and the girl, then a widow, could at
any time be married according to the simple Natrd form. Thus the custom,
which originated just after the doctrine of Buddhism, got the sanction of the
Hindu society under the changed life-conditions of the Mahomedan rule, and
took definite form under aggravating circumstances. In the period of general
insecurity of person and property, journeys to distant places were attended
with danger; and the people grew anxious to transfer the guardianship of
their daughter as early as possible to persons in their own or neighbouring
villages, instead of seeking alliances for them in remote parts of the country.

14. “The Hindus marry at an early age, and hence parents ^.rrange for the marri-
age of their children.” (Sachau, II, p. 155.)

15. Cf. the Gujarati phrase for it : “ ”.

16. “ TO3 ^ ^ ”

Also see, Samalbhatt refers to this social evil in lines such as these —

“ ^ ^ ^ nil IJW |j, Spf % I ”

end, “ qra %

fjRi ^

THE SOCIAL FACTOR : MARRIAGE AND FAMILY

151

Early marriages are partly responsible for woman’s subjection, as the
girl has no time to realise herself or to think out any problems either - in
her own life or in the world around, before she is immersed in a household
where all her duties are ready and little initiative is required. To love her
husband, whatever he is, is her vocation and if she loves, it is fatally easy
for her to obey; and so she falls into the way of yielding to the greatest
pressure and stifling any dawning instincts of unconventionality.

The practice of early marriages and Female Infanticide are closely
connected; for, each was adopted partly on account of the disgrace attaching
to parents whose daughters are unmarried. A son can conduct his parent’s
funeral ceremonies, and thus give their souls entrance into heaven; he is also
a promise of support for old age; but a daughter has to be married and much
expense is laid out on the ceremony. A curious contradiction is afforded in
the reverence paid to mothers, and the comparative indifference to daughters
and sisters; even this can be explained by the opinion that a woman has
only fulfilled the end of her destiny when she has become a wife and a
mother. But probably, the problem of the attitude towards girls is at base
an economic one rather than a depreciation of sex. Female infanticide
was formerly practised in Gujarat by the Jadeja Rajaputs and Kulin
Kanabis whose marriage-customs involved such high expenditure for the
relations of the bride, that the birth of a daughter was universally regarded
as a curse. It became a custom to kill the girl-babies by plunging them into
a pot of milk immediately after birth, a process known as ‘Dudha PitV or
making the child drink milk !

It remains a fact in Gujarat that in all castes, speaking generally,
male children are desired and the birth of a female child is imwelcome."
When a son is born, sweetmeats are distributed and ^VadhamanV — the good
tidings — are sent to friends and relations. Nothing of the sort is done when
a daughter is born. She is spoken as a ‘Patharo' or a stone, and receives
less attention than a boy. This is specially so amongst castes where the
procuring of a bridegroom is a matter of considerable expense. "This
difference of treatment doubtlessly exercises some adverse effect on
female life. The contrast between a son and a daughter is beautifully
brought out in two doggerels, known as ‘Khdyana' (sung while pounding
corn) one of which suggests that the house is empty at night when
daughters go to their husbands’, whereas the house with sons gets an

17, Ct Gujarati proverb : “ W ^

152

CULTURAL HISTORY OF GUJARAT

addition of sons’ wives in the evening.'*

The custom of infant marriages was not so much harmful as the
custom of enforced widowhood for women; because in practice, child
marriage had some clear advantages. The parents of the bride-groom
and the bride belonged to the same caste and the same social condition;
and from childhood the girl and the boy were brought up in a belief that
they were destined to be wife and husband, and that their mutual relation
was as much the work of nature and consequently inviolable, as the relation
between brother and sister, or parents and children. This belief entered
into the formation of their character, and they grew up as wife and husband
and consequently became adapted to each other. Cases of child marriage,
proving ill-sorted afterwards were, therefore, extremely rare and deserved
no consideration.

But the mother-in-law rubbed off her poor little daughter-in-law’s
angularities in a very short time in the domestic social mill. Her tyranny
was proverbial, and this sad truth has been crystallized in pithy saws.” Thus
mother-in-law was one of the worst evils of early marriage. And as tyranny
is always morally worse for the tyrant than the slave, the mother-in-law was
more to be pitied than denounced. She was but a victim of an institution
which, founded on a perversion of the laws of nature sought to create a
second nature among those who came under its baneful influence, a second
nature which blighted the springs of human happiness in the home-life and
which dwarfed the race and impeded their progress in physical, moral,
social and political vigour.

If continuity of a custom be regarded as a good adjustment for the
society, the practice of child-marriage deserves that credit; because it allowed
and allows still the wedded pair to be brought up together as children only
in their parent’s house, till in time they become habituated to each others’

18 . “ ura % sM,

18 a. The contrasting picture of the characteristics of tlig, etc.

are to be met with in songs like ; —

fng ijial ”,

nod, on the other hand, “ ” etc.

THE SOCIAL FACTOR ; MARRIAGE AND FAMILY ;

153

company and affection, while graduidly they come to know and learn their
place in those large households to which their future lives belong. The
Hindu married couple can live in no independent isolation like the European.
Rather they would be but one unit of a great family household, managed on
behalf of all by its eldest members. The real mairiage, the consummation
of their growth to man and woman, comes much later, after many years
perhaps, when the parents at last give their consent to the grown>up student
and the healthy maiden, who helps daily in the household tasks.

It is the position of the widow, however, that holds most of interest
and tragedy. An early marriage gives a woman in her ripening maturity
the fitting fulfilment of her motherhood. And at the worst conjunction of
destiny, the ideal of devotion crystallized in an unbroken widowhood was in
itself no ignoble aspiration. The unflinching veneration that a son gave to
his widowed mother was no small recompense for her sacrifice to a sacred
duty. Widowhood is recognised by all as a state divinely imposed, of auste-
rity and atonement. But it has its own quiet rewards in the family home
with its sense of duty done like a mm’s or a sister of Mercy's. Widowhood
is harsh in those castes, which have merely adopted it as a custom and when
the inspiring ideal is not felt living in their hearts, deep and intense. In all
the higher castes and in the lower castes, as they assumed or usurped a
higher position, widows were forbidden a further marriage.

Normally the idea of marriage in the classes in which Brahmana
influence is most firm is accompanied by a certain ascetic thought which holds
sensuousness and enjoyment to be something debasing and earth-bound.
In all household and family matters, a widow as such, enjoys a far greater
authority than a married woman. She directs the whole house as she has
more leisure for such duties, and in almost all matters relating to family or
caste-customs, she, especially if grown up, is always looked to as a final
authority. Of course, her position as a widow excludes her from the
performance of such religious ceremonies as require the presence of women
on auspicious occasions.

The Hindu widow performed the functions of a European nun, as
well as of a married lady. She was really a ‘Tyaga-MurtV, renunciation
personified, to use the phrase of Mahatma Gandhi. She watches over the
formation of moral and religious development of the rising generation, over
the cleanliness of the house, over the orderly arrangement of the furniture,
etc., and over the physical improvement of the members of the family among
whom her lot is cast. A person so useful and exercising such influence and
suffering from misfortune, which no human ingenuity can avert, was natur-
ally looked upon as a guiding angel, a most deserving object of sympathy,
rather than an object of oppression.

154

CULTURAL mSTOBY OF GUJARAT

The evil of enforced widowhood existed in Gujarat in a very MnaH
degree among the agricultural classes who form the main bulk of the total
population. How second marriage was sanctioned by the society for these
cultivators, on whose numerical strength the existence of others depended, is
already alluded to, as it obtains in Samal Bhatfs stories," who looked
upon the remarriage among the Kapabis as a divine dispensation.^ It was in
the urban communities — the Brahmins, the Banias and the kindred
— that widowhood was enforced as an institution. But even among them the
number of cases, of females that were condemned, by custom, prejudice,
social tyranny and the like, to lifelong misery, and whose age might excite
compassion, was very small.

To talk of remarriage to a high class widow was to give her the
greatest insult, because to her to become a widow was a misfortune. There
was no balm to a soul so wounded, except the one obtained by entering into
a higher kind of life, abnegating oneself on the altar of duty, and sacrificing
self to a higher self in a manner recognised by the highest religious sanction,
as well as by the sanction of the society; and by training the mind and body
so to live in this world as to qualify one’s self for a higher. This was the
adopted doctrine and practice of the Hindu gastras which the highest minds
had adopted and still pursue more or less successfully. Human nature is
marvellously plastic, and a state of life which many Hindu women of Gujarat
deliberately adopted and which extrinsic circumstances imposed on a
multitude of others in all civilized lands, could not be without compensating
consolations. In those cases, where widowhood was sweetened by domestic
affections, sustained by religious devotion, or fortified by intellectual passion,
we have no hesitation in stating that the lives of those who from choice
or necessity adopted it, were neither unprofitable nor unhappy.

But then the unfortunate miserable widows excite our compassion on
account of the unnatural and inhuman caste-rules which permit a widower
to take a second wife freely but prevent the widow under all circumstances.
This is not all. The social atrocities that she was subjected to, cannot be so
defended. The tonsure of widows is apparently a custom later than the
times of Bana who speaks . of the peculiar “Venl”, i. e. braid of hair of
widows, in the Harsa-Carita as etc. Widows had,

however, a distinctive colour of their clothes fixed by the fifth century A. D.
to be white; while women wore coloured clothes and clothes with borders
probably. All her ornaments and jewels were taken from her and she was

19. See, “BhSbharam Varta”, introduced in SihityaHra Carnal (1949) by this
writer.

THE SOCIAL FACTOR : MARRIAOE AND FAMIty

131

expected to live henceforth a life of self-denial and asceticism. The widows’
life shows, in a concrete form, the underlying idea regarding a woman’s u$e
to the world; she is there to satisfy and become complement to a man and
she could not marry again; therefore, why should she be beautiful?, why
dress well?, why indeed live at all? A modem Indian poetess, SarojinI
Naidu has a pathetic lament on this subject in The Dirge :

“What longer need hath she of loveliness
Whom death hath parted from her lord’s caress?

Shatter her shining bracelets, break the string
Threading the mystic marriage beads that cling.

Loth to desert a sobbing throat so sweet.

Divest her of her azure veils and cloud
Her living beauty in a living shroud.”

The suicide of widows on their husbands’ death may be explicable on the
ground of poignant grief, or in hopes of joining the departed in a future
life. Overwhelmed with grief she does not want to live. The hard asceti-
cism and lonely misery of widowhood make the outlook all the darker. On
the other hand, she has only to endure the pyre and she will immediately
have a rapturous re-union with her lord in heaven. The dire fate of a widow
depends on the Brahmanic soul-doctrine. Under that ritual, the widow on
the death of her husband has herself passed out of life, all her prayers
and all her tears can no longer bring aught to her soul, but the bitter memory
that she can no longer be of service to one she loved. She is brushed aside,
and the care of the future progress of the deceased’s soul is left to her infant
son or to the nearest male relative.

The practice of ‘SatV or widow-burning, from Sati, the wife of Siva, who
burnt herself at the sacrifice at her father Daksa’s place, needs some consi-
deration. But its exact origin is unknown. There is no mention of it either
in the Vedas or Manu; but in the Mahdbhdrata is given the story of Madri
wife of Pandu, who became a Sati (faithful or devoted wife) . “The custom
ma y have been borrowed from the Scythians by whom it was practised
according to Herodotus, who described a similar practice among the
Thracians. It seems to have prevailed in India as early as Alexander’s invasion
(about 325 B. C.) from the accounts of Strabo, who speaks of a tribe in the
Punjab which made a law that wives should be burned with their husbands.
The underlying reason was probably a nobler one, and might have arisen
through the idea that the husband needs the wife even after death and there-
fore she follows him into the unknown, in order to continue her devotion to
him; and imbued with the idea that she lived only for him, the widow would

153 CULTURAL HISTORY OF GUJARAT

feel her life was ended with that of her husband.””

The prevalence of the practice of *SatI’ was a living institution when
A1 Berun! visited India. It may have continued till many efforts were made
under the Mahomedan rule to prohibit the custom of widow-burning. No
woman was allowed to sacrifice herself without permission from the ruler
of the Province where the widow resided; and unless the widow insisted
on receiving permission, it was always refused.” The practice was common
among the Rajaputs. The names of Ranaka Devi and Nagamatl are
prominent among them.

But this custom was prevalent among the higher classes only, where
re-marriage of widows was religiously prohibited. Among the group con-
sisting of the lower but thoroughly Hinduized working castes, widow-
remarriage was, however, tolerated and commonly practised, though
somewhat looked down upon in popular regard. Hence the second union
is generally divested of the supernatural sanction in marriage and it becomes
almost a free contract. When the parties to the association are working men
and women, miserably poor for the most part, illiterate and unprogressive,
it follows naturally that the action of this ‘Natra Marriage’ is conditioned
mainly by economics. It was impossible to expect them to live up to the
high ideals of the marriage. Toil and labour, in field or factory or shop, is
the part of both; and the woman’s household work and the assistance of the
growing children were^ incentive to and conditions of this second marriage.
They had no leisure for the finer sensibilities, and like the poor in all
countries, had an eye ever open to the needs of food and nutrition. Without
much education and with little capacity for refined emotion, it was not un-
natural if there was sometimes disimion, and . if they seldom attained the
heights of an ideal marriage. Samal Bhatt’s stories are of special interest
for the reason that they abound in some of the realistic pictures of the lower
classes.

One had to bend down his head in shame if he ever thought of marry-
ing a widow which was only tolerated among the lower classes. The biting
retort of the queen to Rtuparpa, in Nal&khyana, when he was to start for the
second pseudo-Stooyamuoro of DamayantI, was pointedly aimed at remind-
ing him of his high Ksatriya caste.”

20. Woman in World Historj/, by E. White, p. 102.

21. Cf. Samal Bhatt’s Panea Daif^ 11. 470-471,

22. Cf. Preminand's Nalakhydna : !

qiit swg, sn fhr ^1’*

fki sdciiLt fAdrrdt : siiABitiAOi ANd rAiiftV :

1S7

Among Pirsls also the second marriage of a widow, whetlier she mar*
ties a bachelor or a widower, is called Cakarzan marriage or Natra, as dis-
tinguished from the first marriage called Shahazan or royal marriage. “A
Pars! widow’s marriage differs from a maiden’s marriage in the following
particulars : the ceremony is performed once, not twice, and at midnight
instead of in the evening. During the ceremony, the bride should be helped
by a remarried widow and not by a virgin or an unwidowed woman. This
and other divergencies are noted to distinguish the remarriage from the first
marrriage.”

The practice of Hindu marriage in its practical aspect unhappily
shows faults of the most serious and terrible kind. The harshness due to the
inviolability of Hindu marriage, is made the greater by vices, which though
forbidden appear to have been in practice common.

I mean the sale of daughters. Some castes, especially the Patldar caste
in the Ahmedabad and Kaira districts and the Anavala Desai caste in Surat
district are said to pay the bride’s price. And the bride so purchased had
no claim over her parents to supply her with any clothing. (Cf.

^ 9TFrr 5lt ? ”) a victim to this evil in society would naturally bewail
her lot where she was weighed against money ! ” The sums of money which
the parents demand and which they use, not for the daughter’s benefit but
for their own, are so large that they are forced to accept a suitor of sufficient
substance without regard to fitness or religious sanction. Of the higher
classes many have revolted against such conduct which they recognise to be
wicked and despicable. But in the lower castes it is still general. Too
ignorant to comprehend that a human soul is an end in itself and that a
daughter is also a free human being, the father looked on her with besotted
eye as a mere instrument.

Hand in hand with this evil and dependent on it was the terrible
practice of giving young brides to elderly husbands. In no other country

Also Govindrim ;

“ ^ smre; sift ^ ^ ^ canto 53-27.

and the popular couplet “ ^ ^ ^®.”

23. Bom. Caz. IX, ii, pages 238-239.

24. Also the references in KaU^Vart^ana :

ajje, I ii”

and «ntl as I an® afsll BS II ” (B.

also, Vimola Prabeddho BW «B*I*I BfO I f«Rr ^ ifhtt II ”

OnLTURAL ItlSTOBY OF GUJASAI!

m

could the results be more disastrous or the girl>wife more tmhappy.
Vallabha Bhatt, the Gujarati poet, (Samvat 1696-1796) has expressed that
wretchedness in a beautiful ballad-song, which has had some influence in
abating this social evil. From it the following lines are quoted, addressed
to the Goddess Mother (qlTtlT): —

“ Goddess mother, old is the husband, thou hast given me.

Mother, accursed is this coming to life of mine, alas, what more
can I say ?

Goddess mother, a little child am I, and he a great lumbering,
aged man.

My youth is life, a blossom, and my husband is a shrivelled mummy.
Mother, mine are just sixteen years and he has seen his eighty.

Goddess mother, of a winter’s night, there is many a taste one feels.

But doltish is old age, and my husband is deaf and dumb,

Goddess mother, sportive am I, would like to play and I make my
eyes twinkle.

But, mother, he says, “I’ll beat you’’ and lifts his stick in his hand.

Old is my husband, mother, what good can come out of age ?

Goddess mother, on the festival all the girls are gaily dressed and
merry,

But my husband is tired and weak and ugly, and 1 bend my head
in shame !

Mother, my hair is black and his head is all white or grey.

My youth is at its blooming, and already my life is wrecked.

Goddess mother, why was not I strangled at birth, why was not I
poisoned ?

Yet, if my husband die, it is my part to be true to death.

May, Goddess mother, with joined hands I pray at thy feet.

When I am born again, give me a husband that is ypung and
strong. ’’ “

Nothing like this ‘ Garaho ’ on an ill-matched pair is met with in the early
period of Gujarati verse. Every line in it tells, as the miseries of a girl
approaching womanhood married to an old man, daily growing more decre-
pit, are so graphically described. It shows at the same time that nearly
three centuries ago the thoughtful men of the land were alive to the evils of

25. Translated by Otto Rothdeld in Women of India, pages 56-57:

Tkfe SbCiAL FACTdft : MABIUAGB AMD FAIIILY 1^$

such marriages.*' But as long as society tolerated the acceptance of money
by a bride’s father, so long were there parents who were tempted by gold tp
sanction their children’s ruin. And even then, there persisted a deeper
ret^on. For, girls were all early married and widows could not marry a
second time. So even against his will, an elderly man was forced, if he
wished, to have the legitimate and socially sanctioned companionship of a
woman, to seek in marriage one of the young girls who alone were in Gujarat
available for a suitor. As early as the writer of the Vimalaprahandha
(Samvat 1568) this practice of marriages with old persons seems to be in
vogue (Cf. I II” Krsnaram seeing the

times to be out of joint, notices this abnormality : “Some have lost their
senses as they have reached three score years, and even though learned,
they marry again and again (at their advaned age).”

The other unusual type of an ill-sorted marriage was of an infant
bride-groom married to a girl, his senior in years. But this was less
harmful than the marriage with an old man. The child did come of age
after some waiting and the wife had not much to bewail of her lot. The
anxiety of the girl in bloom is recorded in some beautiful folk-songs. One
of these says, “I have passed twelve springs and he is only a child of fifteen
months. How shall I pull on ?” Navalram has exposed this social evil of
infant marriages in a telling manner, by apparently describing a mock
marriage-procession of the animal world. He writes of it in his poem very
suggestively

^ mi, SIT55 ^
w JR

snil 3TT, ^ il'TlIT 5R,

Another folk-song conveys her heart’s yearning in rather an enigmatic
way : She requests the passers-by to give one swing to the cradle wherein
was sleeping a child. Some thought it was her son, others thought it was
her infant brother. §he cleared their doubt by giving out the bitter truth

26. Milestones in Gujarati Literature, by K. M. Jhaverl, page 152.

“ tni ^

— ‘ '

27. “ TOPit gsKl :

Ratjihidli Rdta, Part II, p. 17;

160

CVVniLAh H1ST6IIY of dtJA&Af

that it was her htisband!" It is really surprising to find an instance
like this in a poem by Narasiihha Mehta. The wife says to her companion,
“The husband is a child, how can I have close embraces? If 1 were to caress
warmly, he begins to cry. Curse be to Vidhata who has brought about this
ill-match !’”° A song, wherein the wife in her bloom is guarding her youth
against the wayward youths in society, has a gentle touch of the fidelity
of a Gujarati woman to her married husband, even though he was a child."

The natural result of infant marriages and ill-sorted matches was
an untimely motherhood, and premature deaths of husbands, resulting in
the widowhood of the child-wives. This has been long complained of by
writers who prefer to throw the blame of the phenomenon on the Kali age.
Bhima (V. S. 1541) says : “A girl carries at the tender age of eight and at
the age of sixteen she becomes a widow !”” The writer of the Vtmalapra-
handha (V. S. 1568) brings the age of a mother to six and widowhood to
twenty." Sura Bhatt (V. S. 1704) says, “the husband would die at sixteen

28.

«r.rr

— Ibid., p. 16.

29. “ V :

'>»< 5Cig SIHT >,

g wsiirij ^ : ”

ifiisqwf, ?.

30. “ wO <1*^,

Jog *iT3, ^ ”

31. “ nit ^ 1

^ I *r<5r3 Jipft II

32. “0p nw I 5t®il Wl ®W II

JTTdl Ts«tr I ”

— < r^tiB sjiw ’ 'er^«r3w*?T.

IBB SOCIAL FACTOB ; MAB8IACHC AMO FAlllLY

161

and mothers, eight years old, are common.”" Vallabha Bhatt (V. S. 1760)
writes, “Even before her age a girl becomes a woman. Oh Bahucarl ! and
often bears children.”” K^s^aram, our latest authority on his times (V. S.
1874) says, “The age for a girl to become a mother is either ten, eleven or
twelve.” ® Another side-light thrown by him on the conduct of widows, due
to enforced widowhood is alarming. “A widow throws her child into well
(to avoid shame).””

Akho also has to say on this social phenomena of premature motherhood.
Cf.

“to TOI^ SRijr, ^ ^ 3T^.”
Premanand only passingly refers to it in Mameru, Cf.

Though a woman was not allowed to marry another husband on the
death of her first, a man, however, laboured under no such restriction. Not
only could the widower re-marry another girl, but he could marry another
even in the lifetime of his first wife. Because it was thought necessary
to perpetuate the family by begetting sons, who would perform his funeral
ceremonies when he dies, and afterwards present the periodic offerings
to the manes and gods for the welfare of those departed. The man was
enjoined to marry another wife in case the previous one had failed in her
duty to give him a son.” Sometimes if a wife had no son it was impera-
tive that she pray her husband to seek out a new wife. Because, wife-
hood in India is thought great according to its giving, not to its receiving
or sharing. In fact, the wife is sometimes asked to give even a share
of her husband; since, if she is childless for seven years, he may, with
her permission legally take another wife in order to leave a son to succeed

33. “ ^55 3^1? I II

^ I ^ II

34. “ ^ ^ 51 vft

35. af? 5r

36. “ ikm aifs, zkm

37. Hence the anxiety and a fervent longing to have a son are fostered by all
Gujarati women : Cf. folk-songs like ^

?r 3^ ^

11

162

CULTUBAL HISTORY OP GUJARAT

him. The sense of family obligation, exceptionally strong in India frequently
causes the wife to agree, and even to help to choose the second wife.”^
But polygamy, when it existed, seems to have been confined mostly to chiefs
and heads of tribes. In a general way, the number of wives a man had,
depended upon his wealth, so that even in a polygamous country the poorer
people were still likely to be monogamous. Wives were thought to be an
investment by people of the lower classes to whom the economic value of
labour and co-operation from the plurality of wives counted much. How-
ever, the adjustment represented by plural marriage has tended to pass
away with the increase of civilization from among the higher castes.

In ill-sorted marriages only the disparity in age has been the main
point of attack. However, Vallabhabhatt has given another type of marriage-
partnership where the husband is handicapped owing to the disparity in the
culture and upbreeding of his partner in life. She is untidy, irreligious, not
zealous about the housewife’s duties; and the cultured husband complains
to the Mother-goddess for his sad lot in home life.^

The wave of Mahomedan invasions of India had a deep-felt influence
on the position of women in India. A widespread system of polygamy which
was introduced, accompanied by the zenana system, re-acted on the
Hindu population, so as to lead to a custom of seclusion of women, partly in
self-defence and partly in imitation of the alien conquerors. But there are
many reasons for believing that monogamy is a better arrangement for
advanced people, whether the marrying parties are wealthy or not. The
family is more closely bound together when there is but one father and one
mother; inheritance is clearer and less complicated; there is less jealousy
and dissensions within the family; the children get better care for both
their bodies and their characters, the affection' between the spouses is likely
to be stronger because it is concentrated between two persons and not
diffused among many. The lot of a husband of two wives has been compared
by a poet of the 15th century A. D. to a grain of corn which has been placed
between two mill-stones, which has very little chance of remaining intact,’'^

37a. Women in World History ^ p- 96. '

38. Vide Vallabha Bhatt’s Garabo published for the first time by M. R. Majumdar
in the Divali issue of the Gujarati Weekly lot 1934 November :

“ntw ! HR HHR, g9t ^ :

HR, % «fT JHfHOlt ^ ^ ?

hKHI ! HRT HHH fa#, ^ HH HTI# ^ !”

“ ^ TO I

3 3ni fer ?, JR^ HFR 3RT II ”

— srriH 3% TO ‘ vy.

39 .

THE SOCIAL TACTOS: MABRIAGB AND FAMILT

163

Another popular saying about a husband of two wives ^ WW ’)
sympathises with his poor lot, whom Providence has already punished
sufRciently by his being in such a social fix.

The undesirable lot of 'co-wives’ is another corollary of polygamy.
The highest misfortune that could be imagined for a woman was the role of
a co-wife, whose very sight was an eyesore and a heart-rending scene
often referred to as Gujarati literature is full of touching

references to this social evil, for which men alone are responsible. The
stories of Rama and Dhruva have afforded good occasions to Gujarati poets
to give vent to feelings against polygamy even in kingly families. Many
social songs touch this common theme.® One of these popular ditties records
what a wife would do if the co-wife were to die : “If she dies, I would give
my Salu clothes to be dyed in floral hues, the Diyara (husband’s younger
brother) shall have a red turban, I would adorn the floor with sand-pictures;
and in front of the nirhba tree I would receive her brother, who would
come fuming and fretting with rage.’’" To have a co-wife for a woman
was explained away by taking recourse to certain beliefs in misdeeds
of previous birth. Cf.

^ ^ctMi

And what was the state of a house where many wives were residing?
Samalbhatt, in his usual style goes on recounting

“%Ti Rtw, wr 5Ppr I rtr” —

that it had become a house of witchcraft and the scuffle between rival wives
hardly allowed the poor man to sleep at ease."

The seclusion of aristocratic Hindu women in Gujarat dates from the
time of the Mahomedan invasions; and the custom of Purdah was adopted
partly as a means of protecting women from invaders, and partly in imitation
of the Muslim rule and influence. It must be noticed that only the women

40. “OTRHTSa and thelikein — RPIt.

41. “ ^

^ ??fPtRr ^ tt'Hi %

42. “5ihi ERirf

eiR® #P|#, H R# ! ”

164 CULTUBAI. HXSTORY OT GVJABAT

of the upper classes and those who wished to copy their custom were
secluded. Those who had pretensions to gentility often adopted the custom.
Most of the ladies in Saura^tra, due to the prepondering presence of Rajaput
chiefs and zamindars, as well as the Mahomedan raids in the peninsula,
have adopted strict zenana, system." The influence is rare in Gujarat ex-
cepting among PatidSr land-holders who have copied the system as a hall-
mark of gentility. But the women of the working classes even among
Mahomedans do not observe any purdah. They go about freely, uncovered,
though sometimes they draw their sari across their face when directly
addressed. “Carrying her brass pot and wearing her coloured sdri, she
forms a more graceful and picturesque figure than her Western sister of the
poorer classes.”

The economic status of the woman of the higher classes in Gujarat is
fairly independent; for, her marriage portion called ‘Stridhana’ is her
own, as are gifts from kindred, ornaments and jewels. None of these
may her husband touch. With this may be compared and contrasted
the position of the English women before the passing of the Married
Woman’s Property Act. The ‘Pollu’ or the wife’s share helps as a safeguard
against the widowed state. The higher the caste, the higher is the type
of living, and proportionately greater is the amount of this bride’s money, to
which she can look forward in her need. The proverb about a Nagar-bride
that ‘a potful of Rupees would secure a Nagar girl’ — is significant on this
point." Among the classes where women gained their own livelihood there
is scarcely an employment that is not open to them; in great numbers they
labour in the field; they keep shops and sell vegetables, flowers, household
articles, fuel, straw, etc., and they have the entire management of the house
and family. The economic factor rules all customs, and causes women
of these classes to be much over-worked. The general problem of existence
was solved for women in India by Brahmanism which asserted that she has
no individuality apart from her husband, and she should be in need of no
independent property. The widow could enjoy with moderation the
property of her deceased husband until her death.

43. The word Zandna is of Persian origin. ‘Zan’ is the word for women, and ‘Zena-
na’ means pertaining to women. The word Zenana, popularly used, means the
apartments devoted exclusively for the women of the household; hence a ‘Zena-
na woman’ meant one who lived in seclusion.

44. The proverb ‘ fJpPtl ’ has found mention in Samalbhatt’s

Sudaboheteri :

“ ^ 1 # sK»it ^ ii ”

THE SOCIAL FACTOR : MARRIAGE ANO FAMILY

165

Women are still, inspite of the Purdah, the queens of the household
and exercise, from behind it, as great an influence as women in the West.
The ideid of womanhood in India has been eloquently described in the
words : "Despite the crushing weight of patriarchal authority and all its
pitiable results, the Hindu home hides some very beautiful things. The
faithfulness, devotion and love of the wife and mother, the humility and
willing ministry of the broken-hearted widow, the obedience and affection
of the sons and daughters, even when grown up, the subdued joy and shady
retirement of the zenana, the sacramental note present always and every-
where — these are things of real worth and beauty, exquisite as a bed of
scented violets in an English forest glade,”® The Indian woman remains
all her life subject to man, according to Manu; but she is commonly treated
with honour and respect by her own family. She exemplifies the virtues
of chastity, submission to her husband, willingness to undergo any suffering
for him, and a sense of mystical idealism. Far from being a nonentity, a
woman may be the strongest force in home, and rule strictly, not only her
daughter-in-law, but her husband and sons as well. She has been for
centuries allowed to hold property independently of her husband. The line
“The hand that rocks the cradle, rules the world” is equally true of
Gujarati homes.

Now the picture changes. The woman appears more as a minister of
pleasure than as a tender mother, devoting herself to the tender care of her
offspring. Samal looks upon her as one whose business is to chase away
care and in old ago to soften the miseries of her husband’s declining years.
He is, however, not blind to the softening influences that woman is always
capable of exerting; still it does not appear that Samal ever conceived of :

"A perfect woman nobly plaimed

To warn, to comfort and command.”

Samal’s own opinion, however, is clear from the closing lines of some stanzas
that “wicked women are rare”, and his abuse of the sex is merely the
traditional male- view of women. *’

The Gujarati fiiother as the wife and co-partner cultivates and teaches
love, reverence, and sacrifice. She not only conserves and protects, but she
also educates and inspires. A writer has explained the domination of the
woman in family due to patriarchism, which regards woman as inferior and
as needing to be controlled. "This change in the status of woman has led to
a change in the relations of the goddesses to the gods, and in all patriarchal

45. Tfce Crown of Hinduism, Farquhar, p. 102.

46. Milestone# in Qujardti Literature, pp. 100-02. ,

166

CULTURAL HISTORY OF GUJARAT

lands the goddesses became subordinate to the gods, were merged in them
or wholly disappeared-’*^

The long list of copy-book maxims that were repeated before a newly
married girl** who was taking leave of her parents and who was soon to be
called upon to occupy the place of housewife, shows what a strong hold the
social conventions had on a prospective queen of the household, who was to
entertain no personal likes or dislikes in her new and necessary stage of
married life. She would have hardly entered the middle stage of youth
by this time, and she was generally a girl before she was married. But
after marriage, she was at once promoted to womanhood — the intermediate
stage of youth and fancy and romance had no place in the Gujarati home
of the middle ages, except in the romances of Samal and others.

The ideals of a Gujarati home happy with all possible blessings are
best brought out in an old poem of an unknown author. The burden ‘'if
you have worshipped God Murari alright” shows the religious basis of living,
even in things purely social. “Blessed is she who has borne seven sons and
every day receives obeisance from her daughters-in-law; and more so if she
has also one daughter to whom she might give away her own share; and a
buffalo be in the courtyard which might be milked in the evening (supplying
ample milk for the household). In the morning the ladies of the house would
start churning the curds, with the bangles rattling and the braid of hair
waving freely. Being at case about the food arrangements, she desires the
auspicious — to put on red ivory-bangles and a green bodice and a grand new
silken patold. Bread prepared from local wheat-flour and Kanasara sweet-
ened with fresh Gur from Malva, to be partaken in company of the members
of the family — will be possible if God has been worshipped aright. In
spring time, she would like to enjoy a dish of mango- juice and thin bread in
company with her brother, while the mother looks after the service. She
were the more blessed if there were house-servants to fetch water, as well
as to clean utensils.® The wish expressed in the poem was not a pious wish,
but was an actuality with many Gujarati homes under pbaceful environment.

47. The Social Evolution of Religion, Cooke, page 164.

48. Okhdharana, Canto 50, is an intitance in point.

49. “ ^ m ^ ^ 3Tcrtk :

q!r ^ !

§1^ ^ TOO ^ m :

THE SOCIAL FACTOR ; HAHRIAGE AND FAMILT

167

The pious wishes of a Carapi lady of the same import has been recorded in
another folk-song.

?pfr % siMt h ;
wfr if

^ 'If'iT 5fR:

^ ^ if ^^f if'ii if^N: .'

uit =^, ^ »fiif cfwSf BR :

<?2ff ^ »rt»If^, if ^ tf<t iffR !

TOI % ?.gK :

^ liSf 3Jr<tifif, if ffq ir<R !
sikif ^ dsif, 'ifg®t ifif »?pi :
if^ if fsn tf’^ iKic !

HOT HR HR^, Hlif if: HlfHHR: :

Hlojf ^ SR-OTif, if ffH HfG^ ! ”

—from a MSS. in my collection.

50. Gokuld&s Rlipura’s Qol)ection : beginning with ♦* OTdf’df "PW, ifif
Hf^^Nwr”,

Chapter VI

SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC ORGANISATIONS :
COMMUNAL LIFE

V ILLAGE is the unit of all organisation throughout the length and
breadth of the country. The student of the old social organisation
must turn to the village-institutions in detail. It was in the villages
that all the Gujarati population was distributed. A village was the unit of
population. It was the centre round which all institutions converged. It was
the foundation of all the economic activities of the people; the proper
area comprehended by the people as a single entity; and a suitable field for
the exercise of their social virtues. A village was the maximum unit they
could imagine necessary for the sufficiency of their life. The popular
conception never went beyond a village, because the village was and is
still almost self-sufficing and is in itself an economic unit.

The village agriculturist grows all the food necessary for the inhabit-
ants of the village. The smith makes the plough-shares for the cultivator
and the few iron-utensils required for the household. He supplies these to
the people, but does not get money in return. He is recompensed by
mutual services from his fellow-villagers. The potter supplies him with
pots, the weaver with the cloth, and the oilman with oil. From the
cultivator each of these artisans receives his traditional share of grain.
Thus almost all the economic transactions are' carried on without the use
of money. The Bania supplies the cultivator with seeds and charges
interest, which the cultivator pays, ungrudgingly, though he stoops under
the heavy burden of loans. The artisans follow their hereditary occupa-
tions. There is no competition, no stimulus for improvement, no change in
customary villages. The industries are no doubt stereotyped, the apprentice
only tries to imitate his master, and rarely thinks* of introducing new
implements or new methods of manufacture. Within their self-sufficing
confines, trade was no vulgar source of profit' but a calling, often a holy
calling, handed down from father to son through generations, each with its
zealously guarded crafts.

India is the land where the village and not the city has been the centre
of civilisation in the past; and in it, more than in any other country, the great
intellectual, social and religious movements have originated in quiet seclu-

SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC ORGANISATIONS : COMMDNAL LOTS

169

sion, and nurtured by their thoughts and aspirations, at last reached to the
cities. Thus every trace of individuality of the village, every local peculi-
arity of life and thought are preserved. Still the history and life of India
are locked in her villages and her places of pilgrimage; and each village is a
volume in itself.

To quote Dr. Tagore, “ Villages are like women. In their keeping is
the cradle of the race. They are nearer to nature than towns and are there-
fore in closer touch with the fountain of life. They have the atmosphere
which possesses a natural power of healing. It is the function of the village
like that of the woman to provide people with their elemental needs with
food and joy, with the simple poetry of life and with those ceremonies of
beauty which the village spontaneously provides and in which she finds
delight."' When from its time-honoured position of the wedded partner of
the city, the village is degraded to that of a maid-servant, i. e., when cities
become unduly important, the result is the ugly fatness of the city and the
physical and mental anaemia of the villages !

The villages remained undisturbed in the internecine wars that were
constantly going on, and found no difficulty in transferring the allegiance
to any new king or any new power. The important towns no doubt
suffered in the wars waged and were frequently devastated. The old reli-
gion of the Gujarat village had a recuperative power stronger than the
destructive power of all the armies of Islam. The Musalman Zamindars or
Governors and Maratha Sardars might squeeze the industrious peasantry
but they lived apart from them and rarely interfered with their daily life.
There was always safety in number, and for his own peace and comfort
even the most uncompromising Musalman or Maratha put a limit to his
exactions.

The victories of the Musalman warriors which formed the theme of
the court-poet and historian, were unnoticed in the records of the village,
handed down in song and story from one generation to another. The village
Brahmin still sang the praises of Rama and Krsna and of the heroes of
Mahabharata, of Vilframaditya, of Bhoja and Salivahana; and though the
gossip of the Sultan’s court might often circulate among the crowd of
listeners gathered under the Banian or the Pipal tree in the market or the
outskirts of the village-well, pond or river or in the temple, yet the devoted
loves of Satyavanaand Savitri, of Nala and Damayanti, the trials of Dhruva,
Prahlad and Candrahasa told and retold to- countless generations of villagers
never lost their interest. The only world beyond the village which they

1. Viiva-Bhirati Quarterly, Oct. 1924, “City and Village ”.

170

CULTURAL HISTORY OF GUJARAT

thought of was the world of romance and fiction, populated by poets like
Samal Bhatt.

It must not be supposed that Islam in Gujarat appreciated all the civic
culture which had been developed during the many previous centuries of
Hindu rule in Gujarat. In the deeper sense, Gujarat was never conquered.
Islam seized her political capitals but Gujarat retained what it cherished
most.

The typical Gujarat village had its central residential site, with an
open space for a pond and a cattle-stand. Stretching around this nucleus lay
the village lands, consisting of a cultivated area and grounds for grazing
and wood-cutting. The arable fields had their several boundary-marks, and
their little subdivisions of earth-ridges made for retaining land or irrigation
water. An interesting detail which the Valabhi copper-plates preserve in
this respect is that, each field had its name, called after a guardian or some
tree or plant. The inhabitants of such a village passed their lives in the
midst of these simple surroundings, welded together in a little community,
with its own organisation and government, which differed in character
in the different types of villages, its body of detailed customary rules and its
little staff of functionaries — artisans and traders

The harvest is the centre of interest, and to most of the peasants the
state of the crops is no mere formal topic of conversation, but the all-absorb-
ing question of life. In ordinary circumstances the peasant had sufficient food
of the only kind he desired, the produce of his own fields or garden, his
millets and lentils, his barley or rice, his much appreciated ghee made from
the milk of cows or buffaloes, the vegetables, spices and condiments of which
in a hot climate there is no lack, and as much tobacco, sugar, and sweetmeats
as he can afford to buy. His wife had often her holiday attire and her silver
ornaments; for after providing the necessities of life, there was frequently
something left for simple luxuries and for buying jewellery, the latter a
common form of hoarding.

Below the peasant class there was a large class of landless folk, who
also found support from land by working for well-to-do^:ultivators in return
for a daily or monthly wages. They formed , a well-organised part of the
village community, and poor and poorly remunerated as they no doubt were,
it was the traditional duty as well as the interest of the land-holding class
to look after them in hard times. There were also other residents of the
village who did not actually cultivate land but yet were indirectly supported
from it. Such were the village potter, the village blacksmith and carpenter,
who made ploughs and other agricultural implements, the barber, the cobbler
or leather-worker, the washerman, the watchman. All these received doles

$0C1AL ANO ECONOiaC OBGANISATIONS : COMMUNAL LIFZ

171

of fixed amounts from the grain heap at harvest time, and other dues and
perquisites.

The study of the village communities divides itself into two parts :
(1) village government and (2) village life. Each village community,
though no longer an independent village republic, as was the case in the
Vedic times, was a subordinate unit of a principality or State. At its
head was the village headman who was generally a hereditary officer (or
‘ Dhruva*, a word occurring in Gujarat). He was responsible for the collec-
tion of revenue and defence of the community. He with other officers
constituted a unit of administration which was self-contained and sufficient.
Out of this self-contained and self-governing village commune were evolved
large political units and the village became their constituent.

The Desa or country was usually divided for administrative purposes
into divisions which were called Bfcufcti or Mandaltt i. e. District which was
again subdivided into smaller portions called Visaya or Ahdra, as we meet
with in Gujarat inscriptions. The Visaya consisted of a number of villages
or gramas. Thus the lowest administrative unit was the village, a village
being usually described as situate in a particular Vi§aya of a particular
Bhukti or Mandala. The ‘ Visaya ’ was named usually after the chief town of
each while the Bhukti had a name which sometimes referred to a people.
The Bhukti or Mandala sometimes contained about one thousand villages
more or less and there was a District Officer called ‘Mandalcsvara* or
‘ Rastrapati ’. The police officer of about hundred villages or rather of the
Visaya or Taluka was called ‘Cauroddharanika’ while the Magistrate or
dispenser of punishment was called ‘ Dandanayaka ’.

The Visaya or Ahara was like the village, a fixed quantity, which did
not vary with the growth or decay of kingdoms. They had fixed natural
boundaries, and were, in fact, natural divisions of the country. Sometimes
the word Visaya is substituted by the number of villages in it, as also the
Bhukti or Mandala. In the plates of Dantivarma of Gujarat, the village
granted is described as ‘ situated in the forty-two of Lata country ’. We
have statements lilce ‘ ’ in the Barova plates of

Karkaraja, and ‘ ’ in Kapadavanj plates of Akalavarsa

Subhatunga.

Vinaycandra in his Kdvyasiksd (end of 13th century Saihvat) has given
the names of eighty-four countries in India, and then in each country he has
given the divisions with the approximate number of villages. The villages
round about Mahi river were 2200, Surastra had nine thousand, Lafa Desa had
twenty-one thousand, the Gurjara Desa and beyond it was comprised of seventy

172

CULTUBAL RISTOBY OF OOJAKAT

thousand villages.'' Then he enumerates smaller groups of villages, perhpas
forming a Visaya or Taluka, known by its chief town or capital. Few of
them which can be identified are the groups’ known as twelve of Pa tan,
twenty-four of Matar, thirty-six of Vadu (in Padra district), twenty-four of
Bhalej, fifty-two of Har§apura (Harsol), fifty-six of grinara (Sinor), sixty of
Jambusara, eighty-four of Darbhavati (Dabhoi), one hundred and four of
Petlapadra (Petlad), one hundred and ten of Khadiraluka (Kheralu), and five
hundred of Dhavalakka(Dholka)etc. The Lekhapadd}iaii{15ih. century A,D.)
mentions in a religious endowment

” etc.,* where is modern ‘ Carotara a portion of central

Gujarat which formerly formed an administrative group of 104 villages
with Petlad as the principal town, and is modern ‘ Coras! ’, also

a portion of Gujarat in the east of Baroda, formerly a group of 84 villges.
The singular number used shows that both the portions, at some time,
formed one distriet-taluka under Kaira district. The ‘ Surat Atthavisi of
28 villages, is not too modern to be omitted; a similar group of ‘ Cumval ' —
forty-four — in northern Gujarat is known to us through Vallabha Bhatt,
who sang of Bahucara, the goddess situated there.

The ‘ Visaya ’ or Taluka was not further sub-divided, though some-
times we find further subdivisions into portions east, west, north and south
as in modern or Mahomedan times in 'Tarajs\ Perhaps the word ‘Tappo’
may seem to be a popular corruption of this ‘ Taraf ’. A mention is met
with in Sdhilya Sindhu Bhugola, a versified geography in Vraja Bhasa by
Patel Venidas of Vaso, that ‘Petlad tappo was formed of 42 villages”.

The headman, as already observed, was neither elected by the people
nor appointed by the government, but was a hereditary officer. Even imder
the Mahomedans it is known to have been hereditary, for they continued the
old arrangement. The headman was the most important officer in the villages
and all others are mentioned as subordinate to him in the Valabhl inscrip-

2. “ i gw: i i

i”

3. I i i i

I sftJTRsrgRr i i i

jp# I i i ” •

4. Gaikwd^s Oriental Series, No. XIX, page 17.

5. The modern current word Carotar is conclusively a corruption of

the latter part being omitted in practice.

6. Descriptive Catalogue of MSS» in the Forhes Gujardtl Sabhd, p« 304.

SOCIAL AND fiCONOBCC ORGANISATIONS : COMMUNAL LIFS

173

tions from Gujarat and Saura^tra of the sixth, seventh and eighth centuries,
and of the Gujarat Ra^trakutas of the succeeding two centuries. The plates
mention the officers according to their grades and the usual order is
(Ra?trapati) (Visayapati), jTTRf?: (Gramakuta), (Ayuktika),

(Niyuktika), (Adhikarika), (Mahattardm^

(Samanujnapati), — [the Kdvi grant]. The kings were anxious to warn
all those officers who possibly may be in a position to disturb the enjoyment
of the rent-free land or village; it therefore goes without saying that at least
those officers who were concerned with the collection of taxes are all men-
tioned here, according to their grade and importance — a fact which shows
that the Gramakuta was the most important among the village officers;
and PateFs responsibility for the village-revenue in Muslim times must have
been inherited from the previous Hindu age.

Over and above these principal duties with the village, if the well was
in need of repairs it was the Gramakuta who used to supervise the work. If
any co-operative concern was to be organised, it was he who took the leading
part. If any officer from the central government came to inspect the village
it was he who attended to his needs. A stone-inscription at the grand gate
at Patan dated 1543 A. D. throws a flood of light on this point of Mukhi’s
duties. It is a proclamation from Sultan Ahmadshah to the officials as well
as non-officials in this way : "Be it known to the holders of the office of
Kotwal as well as Mukhi, that while travelling this way (they) used to carry
away Khatli (bedding etc ) from the houses of people, which led to crime,
oppression, violence and acts forbidden by religion in the course of imperial
work; and that traders, officials, persons encamping, the retired officers,
merchants, and the Mahajan should abstain from doing such forbidden deeds,
and that if henceforth any ofthe officers whether Musalman or infidel is sent
for such things without permission, the Musalman officer shall have abjured
the oath of God and the infidel shall have abjured the oath of Saraswati
(river) or the idol they may happen to worship.*^’

The headman enjoyed inalienable rent-free lands as his remuneration,
which system under 4he Hindu kings was continued by the Mahomedan
rulers known as the ‘Vatan’ system. The influence of the headman then
gradually dwindled under the British rule. “In the first place he has been
deprived of many of his powers and privileges. He can no longer collect his
former dues, he can no longer act as a village judge, he can no longer pose
as the village protector.”*

7. Bhdvnagar Inscriptions, p. 33.

8. Altekar, Village Communities in Western India, p, 11,

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CULTURAL HISTORY OF GUJARAT

The village accountant or the ^Lekhaka* was to keep village-registers.
But then, every village did not possess an accountant. The second important
feature of the village was the ‘ Grama Sahha * or the village council, i. e. not
the village Paficayat or Judicial court but a select body of villagers which used
to superintend all kinds of village affairs — ^village banking, village charities,
village public works, village disputes, temple management and so on. In the
earliest times as the Aryan colonization of Western India was going on at
full speed, the village communities presumably did not possess the council
of a more defined or representative character. They were then engaged
in the difficult and dangerous tasks of occupying forest lands and subjugat-
ing the aborigines. They were, therefore, more in need of daring leadership
than of popular or elected councils.

Under the Mauryan supremacy of Gujarat, the council had a nebu-
lous form, and daring villagers were encouraged by the bureaucracy in
managing many of their local affairs. Thus exemption from taxation offered
by way of reward to those who would undertake works of public utility
like the construction of tank or the digging of an embankment, clearly shows
that these things were often managed by a non-official agency.” The arrange-
ment of public fairs, festivals and shows, the management of temple property
and the property of minors, occasional undertakings of public works and
other matters which were left to the villagers, were all managed by them
under the general guidance and supervision of the village elders —

From Valabhi and Gurjara plates of Gujarat and Saurastra, it distinct-
ly appears that some kind of village council was evolved during the Hindu
period. Grants of these monarchs exhaustively enumerate all persons and
officers who were likely to interfere with the grantee’s enjoyment of the
lands granted. The words (Adhika-mahattar)^ (Mahat-

taradhikarika) and ( Adhikarika-mahattara^ probably refer to

the elders of the village council. On the strength of these inscriptions
during the Gurjara and Valabhi rule in Gujarat and Saurastra (A. D. 480-
789) we can say that village communities possessed a council of elders»
consisting of the persons selected or elected by the vill,age elders and called
the ‘ Mahattaradhikarika The council of elders continued to exist even
under the Gujarat Rastrakutas as known from the different inscriptions.
These village elders who were originally natural leaders of the village
communities, later on began to appoint for the convenient transaction of
business, a council or committee from amongst themselves; for, the inscriptions
expressly state that the council consisted of elders — ^Mahattara —

9. Cf. Arthasdatra : /

SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC ORGANISATIONS : COMMUNAL LIFE

175

who were for the time being in power. Villagers at large had nothing to do
with the election or selection of this committee. But the village councUs
were appointed only when any necessity arose, when it made requisite
arrangements for the work immediately in hand. The work over, the tempo-
rary organisation would cease to function. Nor were standing sub-commit-
tees appointed even in cases which required permanent management. The
management of the temple was left to the temple Pujarl, as long as he behaved
properly. It may be noted that in the numerous temple or monastery grants,
extensive properties that were granted for the management of temples and
monasteries for the repairs, etc., were conveyed directly to these temples
and monasteries and never to any temple committee or village council, in
trust for them.

Such then was the typical * village-council * down to the Mahomedan
period. The task of ascertaining the effect of Mahomedan rule on these
village committees becomes rather complicated from the fact that the rule
was not equally stable and permanent all over Gujarat and Saurastra.
Gujarat under Sultan and Mughal supremacy was, however, stable, perma-
nent and fairly well-organised; so the effects were most pronounced in the
province. It is true that Mahomedans did not much interfere with the old
arrangements of village communities. The paternal solicitude of the Hindu
rulers was replaced by old indifference of the new conquerors, or as Prof.
Jadunath Sarkar puts it, ‘‘the communities could enjoy parochial self-govern-
ment rather than local autonomy.’’^®

There followed as a result, despair and despondency at the loss of
independence; and again there was a constant dread of hostilities among
local governors, who hardly spared villages in their warfare. In such times
of stress and difficulty, single leadership was always preferred; and many a
memorial stone, Khdmhhi or Pdlid, spread over the province still tell their
tale of village-rescue at the hands of leader martyrs, who staked their lives
to save their villages. Through the oppression of Musalman governors and
and their officers, and the greed of revenue-farmers, the villages practically
lost all their powers.* The village council became an effective body hardly
possessing any influence." Owing to these and similar factors the village
council of elders disappeared from the country as a formal body. Under
the British administration, which was until recently an exceptionally cen-
tralised one, all the activities of the village community were guided and con-
trolled by the directions received from the headquarters or the capital. In

10. Mughal Adminiatrationt page 12.

11. Ranade, Rise oj the Mardthd Power, p. 22.

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CULTURAL HXSTORY OF GUJARAT

such a system of administration, the old village council, meeting irregularly
in an informal fashion and doing the village business according to the wishes
and convenience of the villagers, had no place.

The foremost governmental function connected with the life of village
community was the administration of justice and settlement of village dis-
putes. From times immemorial down to the British period, village disputes
used to be settled among the villagers themselves; but comparatively serious
cases had to be sent to the Royal courts for decision. Under the Mahomedan
rule in Gujarat, criminal offences of a serious nature were tried by
Kazis, appointed by the Central Government, as such cases were always
outside the jurisdiction of the village Pancayats all over India, involving as
they did, the exercise of the highest power of the State, namely, sentences
for mutilation and capital punishment, which can hardly be delegated under
any system of local government to the village tribunals.

The composition of these village tribunals were known separately as
Pupa, Srenl, and Kula. Vijnanesvara, a Western Indian who flourished at
Kalyan in the 11th century and the author of Mitdksard (a commentary on
Manu Smrti), explains Puga as an assemblage of persons of different castes
and professions but residing in the same place, known as Grdmamahatiaras,
in the inscriptions. This was the chief village court. The guild court (^reni)
and the family courts {Kula) were subordinate to each. There was suffici-
ent sanction behind the Pancayat decisions, and they were generally carried
out. The actual trial was, however, an informal affair. The opinion of the
wiser and more influential members gradually prevailed. The usual meeting
place of the Pancayat was the local temple; the religious awe it inspired
among the inhabitants was very useful in ascertaining the truth. Then again,
the formalities and oaths which a witness had to take were such as to strike
terror in a religious mind, and quite sufficient to stifle in that godfearing age
any tendency to tell a lie. Truth, therefore, was usually discovered; the
cases were tried locally, most of the villagers knew the true nature of the
dispute, and it was really very difficult to tell a lie in the face of neighbours
and elders. People, moreover, were truthful, in those times, a fact which is
attested to by Megasthenes, Hiuen Tsiang and Marco Polo.”

In Gujarat, the influence of the Muslim rule on the village communi-
ties was considerable. The judicial functions of the village communities

12. Of Gujarati merchants he has said ; “They are the most honourable merchants
that can be found. No consideration whatever can induce them to speak an
untruth, even though their lives should depend on it .” — Marco Polo*$ Travels
(Wright’s edition), page 401.

SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC OBGANISATIONS : COMMUNAL LIFE

177

was considerably affected owing to the establishment of regular courts and
known recognition by the State of the village Pahcayats. Under the Muslim
rule, in every town there was a ‘KazI’ to try the cases of Mahomedans and
a ‘Sadr’ for those of the non-Mahomedans. Appeals against their decisions
were entertained by the Kazi and Sadr at the Suba; as a last recourse
Ahmedabad decisions were subject to an appeal to the KazI-u-Kuzzat and
Sadr-u>Sadur at Delhi.”

Thus in Mahomedan Gujarat, Hindu tradition could not influence
government ideals; and this fact told upon the efficiency of the village courts.
Nor did things improve with the fall of the Muslim power; for the Marathas
who became the next rulers of the province did not find the requisite leisure
and opportunity to establish stable administration. Of course, Pancayat
system was revised, but did not become such an efficient instrument as in the
Deccan under them. The Kamavisdar or Taluka Officer who used to grant
the Pancayat, demanded 25% as its commission and the successful party be-
ing better able to pay the sum, was held responsible for its payment. This
was not the best atmosphere for the successful working of the system. As a
natural result we find that at the advent of the British rule the Pancayats
in Gujarat were not so strong and powerful as those in the Deccan.”

Protection of person and property from external attacks was the next
indispensable function of the village communities. While colonising new
tracts of territory, endeavour had to be made to make the villages able to
defend themselves, if necessary, with mutual help. It was, therefore, but
natural that every village unit should be so organised as to be able to
defend itself. On occasions of public danger, the brave villagers would unite
together and offer a stubborn resistance to the freebooters, and those who
laid down their lives in such skirmishes were immortalized by the villagers
by the erection of suitable memorials. *1116 Gujarati words ‘ ’

(‘were best utilized’) foimd on these Pdlids are sufficiently significant.

Police-stations were, however, established for every two, three or five
villages, during the Valabhi and Rastrakuta rule in Gujarat. The expression
(‘“ot to the troops for camping’) mentioned in village-
grants meant that the villages granted away were not to be entered into by
regular or irregular troops, for the maintenance of which the villagers had to
pay. Hiuen Tsang observes about most of the towns in Gujarat and
Saura§tra that they were walled and fortified, and thus might have been
probably the case also of the cont<mporary villages. Village walls, however,

13. Bom. Gaz. I, page 213.

14. Ranade, Ri»e of the Maratha Power, p. 22.

12

178

CULTURAL HISTORY OF GUJARAT

became a common feature during the Muslim period and no wonder; for
in the matter of maintaining order, the Mughal governor was the weakest
and the least capable of improvement with time. He no doubt undertook
to defend the community from foreign invasion and internal revolt, and to
protect life and property in the cities by its own agents; but the policing of
the vast local areas was left to the localities themselves.'* The regular
gradation of officers, the mention of police and detective authorities and of
taxation agencies as known from the Valabhi and Ra^trakuta inscriptions'*,
make it quite clear that the administration of these was strong, stable and
well organised; there was no internal warfare going on and the external
feuds between the contemporary dynasties were not very frequent.

So we may well conclude that throughout the Hindu period the
village communities were not much affected by the changes of dynasties that
then took place. At the advent of Mahomedan rule, a change took place and
took place for the worse. The Mahomedan warfare was conducted on prin-
ciples that were almost savage; and the Marathi opponents in Gujarat were
not slow to pay the invaders back in their own coin. As a result, the life
of the village communities was seriously affected. The headman was in
charge of the police arrangements but the actual duty of watch and ward
was entrusted to a watchnian, a person usually of low extraction. If a theft
or robbery was committed, he had either to detect the culprit or to trace his
footsteps to a neighbouring village. Otherwise he was compelled to make up
the loss caused by the theft. His liability was, of course, limited by his means
and it was based on a shrewd suspicion that he himself might be the thief
or in league with him. This arrangement was in vogue in Saurastra also."

In the Mahomedan period, as observed above, the help from the cen-
tral government by way of the appointment of the regular police officers
began to become irregular. We have already shown how the Muslim admi-
nistration practically used to leave the villagers to take care of themselves.
Some kind of arrangement was made in Gujarat by the establishment of
some police-posts in each district, their number varying according to the
character of the people; but their arrangement did notVork well.

Since very early times, land revenue’has been the principal source of
revenue in India. For a long time the tax was collected in kind. Public

15. Sarkar, Mughal Administration, p. 8.

16. The officers were called (Cauroddharapika) and (Dapdapa-

fiika) who were obviously, as their names clearly show, police and detective
officers appointed to arrest and chastise robbers and desperate characters.

17. Bom. Gaz., VIII, p. 171.

SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC ORGANISATIONS : COMMUNAL LIFE

179

granaries existed in every village; for central granaries officers known as
*Ko$thadhikarr were appointed. The village granary was in charge of the
accountant. Payment continued to be in kind under the Maitrakas and the
Ras^akutas; their grants distinctly refer to a grain-share in kind : (cf. the
expression ‘ I ’)• The revenue in grain continued to be the order

of the day even under the Mahomedans for a long time. To^ar Mai, the
Revenue Member of Akbar, was the first to introduce the cash pasrment system.
The tax was generally collected from the individual peasant proprietor,
which is known as the ‘Raiyatwarl system*, where there was no middle man.
The Mahomedans introduced the farming system only at the time of com-
mencement of the decline of their power which the Marathas thought fit to
continue. Over and above the land-tax the villagers had to pay octroi duties,
bazar dues, property taxes on cattle, goats, horses, etc. and a tax on flowers,
fruits, vegetables, seeds as well. The inscriptional village-grants referred to
some taxes different from and in addition to the land revenue.

Apart from these taxes in kind, taxes on labour were also levied.
The state had a right to ‘Vistt’ or forced labour upto a certain limit in every
village, and each labourer was obliged to work for the State a certain number
of days in the year.” This right to exact this labour-tax was sometimes
assigned to the grantee of a village gifted away, as mentioned in plates and
inscriptions. The village communities had thus to pay more direct taxes in
the past than they do at present under the British rule. But they also enjoy
the unique advantage of having a fairly large village fund at the disposal for
meeting the common needs of the community. This village fund was col-
lected and spent in the village itself, by its own inhabitants; and so it cannot
be compared with the modern Local Fund which goes to the Central Treasury
to be expended where the District Local Board may deem necessary. The
disappearance of ‘ village fund ’ naturally lessened the charms of the village
life for the want of its old charities and amusements.

The first thing in a village settlement was the selection of a village site.
Usually the land situated within the boundaries of a village was divided
into three parts; one was set apart far habitation, one for cultivation and one
for pasture. Contiguity to water-supply was the first and foremost point of
consideration; hence if there was a stream or river the site was selected

18 . The Gujarati couplet ; —

“ 5pii y®!, ^ :

preserves a reference to this forced labour, called ^ from Sk. filft, which went
in turns, — from which liability, a man putting on a Bava-Topi was allowed to
go scot-free.

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CULTURAL HISTORY OF GUJARAT

along its bank, but at a point of elevation to avoid danger of inundation in
monsoons. Cultivation being the primary purpose of the settlement an at-
tempt was made to see if a piece of waste land could be selected which would
combine other advantages as well. After the site was selected, it was allot-
ted to the colonisers. It was usual for members of each caste and profession
to congregate at one place and thus form their own centres. Thus have
arisen the carpenter lane, the potter lane, the smith lane, the Patidar Vago,
etc., that we come across in villages and towns.*® The untouchables were as-
signed a place on the outskirts of the main settlement. The usual material for
houses was mud and wood. The use of stone for residential houses was not
known even in capitals. Valabhipura was all built in wood and mud, hence
the absence of any imposing ruins at modern Vala. It was only after the
eighth century that stone came to be used for imposing and permanent
structures like temples, palaces and hospitals. The temple of Somanath which
was made of wood was subsequently built of stone by Bhima of Gujarat
and Bhoja of Malwa in the 11th century A. D. * 51HIIRT ’ from the

‘ballad on Jasama’ mentions stone-pavement and iron-gates in the tenement.

The typical village house has continued to be a tenement of mud
and wood even to the present day. Every village did not hold weekly bazars.
Still it was usual for every village to set apart some open space, preferably
at the centre, for the sale and purchase of articles. A plot was set apart for
the cremation purposes at a considerable distance from the residential
quarters. Roads to adjoining villages were laid and kept in repairs.
They were neglected only during the 17th and 18th centuries owing to the
disturbed and unsettled conditions of the times. The road going from one
village to another is often mentioned in inscriptions, to be a boundary on one
direction of the fields given in charity.® The average population of the village
in ancient times was more than the modern village, which is 387. “Because

19. It is interesting to note that the different settlements in the village or town
were recognizable by certain well-marked peculiarities of inhabitants from
the generality of population as are known to us from c 4 >uplets like :

“ ^ ^ ^ I Rrg ^ ^ II

ftnJr 3[ffgT i ^ ii

“ ^ ^ m 1 ^ ^ ii

In the ‘Bhavar or the indigenous Gujarati popular drama, the ‘ Tenda’s VeSa *
contains such couplets for about a dozen of such castes.

20. Compare, for example, W:

4^1:, in the Kavi plates of Govind 111, daka 749 (A. D. 828), Ind. Ant., V, p. 145.

SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC OBGANISATIONS : COMMUNAL LIFE

181

the irresistible ecoaomic forces of modern civilization, which are depopulating
villages and overcrowding cities, were then absent altogether. The adminis-
tration too, was not there, as it is now, a centralised one; the villagers enjoy-
ed large autonomy; they had not to turn down to the taluka or Bhukti
every now and then, be it for registration, adjudication, education or medi-
cal relief. Naturally, therefore, the gravitation of towns and cities being
absent or negligible, the villages were in a prosperous condition, more popu-
lous and extensive than they are now.’*”

Most of the village communities are purely agricultural and they gene-
rally reveal a rural system of economy chiefly based on peasant proprietor-
ship. the Jatakas, as well as in the Maurya period, there was the system
of individual holding based upon individual proprietorship; separate record
was kept of the lands, cattle and taxable capacity of every householder by
the Gopa.” ” We shall, therefore, proceed to explain, not how the Raiyat-
wari tenure arose in the province which obtains as a general rule, but how
non-Raiyatwari tenures have come into existence in some parts of it. “As
each tribe of Rajaputs invaded Kathiawar and Gujarat during the llth and
12th centuries, its chief bestowed on his relatives and followers portions of
lands he had won. The share of each grantee was known as a ‘ Kapalagrasa *
and passed to his children and descendants. The enterprising *grasias’ added
more land to their share and acquired more influential position. But the
lesser one had to remain content with the share that was originally assigned
to him. He was, however, bound to make provisions for his younger children
and so subdivision has gone on to a ruinous extent. The result is that in
some estates of a single village there are more than a hundred co-sharers
who have fallen to the level of peasants.’*® Such is the origin of the joint-
holding tenures in Gujarat and Saurastra. The question about private
land-ownership as against the British contention that State is the owner
of the land has already been dealt with in the Chapter on the ‘ Political
Factors’. One fact may be noted, however, that the ownership of lands
occupied by the village communities was vested in the peasant-proprietors;
hence the proverbial deep attachment to the soil exhibited all* over the
presidency by the farmer. The village pasture, which is even now a regular
feature of village communities, was invariably set aside for the cattle grazing,
which to an agricultural community was an absolute necessity. Among
the list of all-besetting sins in the ‘Kalijuga* perpetrated by a ruler, the

21. Alatekar, Village Communities in Western India, p. 79,

22. Arthasdstra, II, 35.

23. Bom. Gaz., VIII, pp. 315-16.

1S2

CULTURAL HffiTOBY OF GUJARAT

confiscation of pasture-lands for being brought under cultivation, figures
prominently.

The typical village in Gujarat is essentially agricultural, so the main
occupations are agricultural and allied pursuits. While referring to the
village of his time, Canakya uses the term (consisting mostly of

Sudras and farmers). The usual type of village in Gujarat has been of the
same type, and that description still holds true; for even now the immense
majority in the village consists of non-Brahmins, and their profession is
either agriculture or some other pursuit subsidiary to it. A farmer can hardly
proceed with his work without the assistance of a smith or a carpenter;
he wants the axe-bladc and the plough-share, the plough and the cart.
The smith and the carpenter alone can supply these articles to him. Then
apart from his agricultural needs, he has also some others in common with
the rest of the population. There can hardly be any civilised community
which can dispense with the services of a barber or a shoe-maker, a potter
or a washerman. All these and similar other artisans have been existing in
villages from times immemorial, but they exist merely to serve the needs of
the commimity. Hence it is that they are called "servants of the com-
munity* and their maintenance was guaranteed by the community, due to
which they were not and even now are not accustomed to migrate from
village to village in search of better employment. The peculiarity of the
village occupations is that they are just what they are required to make the
village community self-contained and self-sufficient. As already observed
a certain grain-share was paid every year by each farmer to all the village
artisans at the time of the annual harvest. Payment was not made in cash
nor was his payment in kind made on each occasion the service was rendered,
but annually at the harvest time, whether each farmer required the services
of the village servant or not.

If we were to seek the origin of this system we must remember that
the Aryans who were colonising an unknown country infested by wild ani-
mals and inhabited by hostile tribes had to endeavour to make their village-
settlement as self-contained as possible. And this could be done only by
ensuring the permanent existence of a village staff to serve the agricultural
and other needs of the community by guaranteeing to it a never-failing
source of income. We get a glimpse of village communities in Gujarat in
the eighteenth century from Samal Bhatt’s poems, who was a keen observer
of social life and customs obtaining in villages. The system by which the
produce of the land was divided and distributed as government share and as
the yearly share of the village servants is thus referred to in the Batris putaff :
“In the month of Maha, corn is divided into two lots; one-half goes to

SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC ORGANISATIONS: COMMUNAL LIFE

183

the government and the remaining half is distributed among others.
First comes the trader who has supplied him with seeds : then comes the
Brahmin, probably the astrologer or teacher or the Pujarl. Caracas also
appear on the scene, and the barber with the looking-glass. The carpenter
and the tailor are then attended to, and then comes the Bha^ with his bless-
ings.” ** As for the proportion of distribution we come to know that “ the
smith, the shoemaker and the carpenter get l/12th, the potter, the washer-
man and the barber l/20th; the Garasia, the village accountant, and the
revenue-collector have also their dues.”

In the villages it is round the well that woman’s life circles. It is
their club which meets every day. An hour before the day, they come from
every quarter to the one great well which supplies the township. They come
in scores, of every caste and age, merchants’ wives and pretty noblesse,
cultivators and labourers, old women, widows and mothers. With hurried
prattle they talk of the night and the coming day, of the prices of the bazar
and the scandal of a woman neighbour or the coming visit of a priest. As the
day dawns, the women finish drawing water as best they can and turn home.
This woman is at her best when walking in the country villages, where her
frame is trained to a graceful poise by the constant carriage of water-pots
balanced over her head as she steps down the dusty lanes or the sloping
banks of the river. She walks straight, two copper-pots balancing easily on
the head, another large pitcher lightly held against the hip, easily moving
as they talk and smile.

Next to the well, it is at the temple that the life of a woman centres.
For her every thought and act is moulded from childhood to the day of death
by the present reality of religion. Her childhood is an adoration, marriage
a sacrament, wifehood an oblation; in motherhood she finds at once sacrifice
and worship : while life and death alike are a quest and a resignation. At

24 . ’IRWf ^ > upt;

«nwr ^ twpr.

JPR 5IW, RI5FI ^ *ira.

3?r^ 3*r[ jqf?!, ^ piif.

W Bf# «iA w, ‘ ”

a. “ % gjiR, »n»i '

fUR, wr, « fiwR:

»ra#3ii iim ^ ^ ”

— 4^

184

CULTUHAL HISTOBY OF GUJARAT

the temple she makes her vows, for a husband’s kindness or the supreme
gift of childbirth. And there, from the fulness of her heart, she pours out
thanksgiving for the blessings of her state. The daily ritual in which her life
of .service finds its symbol is the scattering of flowers upon the images of Gcd,
the singing of His praises, and the circumambulation of His sacred shrine.

The communal life in villages is freer on occasions of the village-feast
generally called “Ujani”, in honour of Mata or any other deity, organised on
a system of individual subscription per family. So also during the autumnal
festival, all villagers contribute in their own way something to the celebra-
tion of “Garabo " — the lighted earthen pot with holes, sacred to Amba. *010
carpenter supplies the central wooden stand, the blacksmith makes the
hooks, the painter paints it, the potter brings earthen pots, the kunhi
gives cotton to make wicks out of it, and the oilman gives oil as his quota
and the ‘ Garabo ' is lighted, round which the women of the village sing
their devotional and socio-religious songs for all the days of the week.
Thus it was how villages used to enjoy in the middle ages."

The origin of the services of the village artisans is thus probably to
be found in the isolated condition of villages when communications were
scanty, undeveloped, and the individual village was thrown largely on its
own resources to supply the needs of daily life. Each of the professions
represented in a village became crystallised into a caste with its customary
duties and monopolies. This caste often served as the trade-guild which
protected the standard of work as well as the standard of life and comfort
of the artisan. It laid down strict rules of industry and trade. It exercised
to a limited extent the functions of a benefit society or an accident or in-
surance association and gave old-age pensions. As life grew more complex
in villages, the original occupations came to be sub-divided and specialised,
leading to the founding of sub-castes from one original occupation. As the
community was thus divided according to the separation of the occupation
in every step in the ascending scale, there was a ramification of castes and
occupations due to a higher status acquired by wealth and ability. Hence
these sub-castes, mostly responsible to the occupational aspect of the caste
system, have an important socio-economic significance.

The ideal of being an aristocrat with a self-imposed poverty, secured
for the Brahmin the resi>ect and high position which he richly deserved.

25. The song that is generally sung for this occasion begins with—

qnrar gtnO ^

SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC OSOANISATIONS : COHKDNAL UTE

185

But with the march of time, the Brahmin hierarchy missed its mission and
degraded itself. The Brahmin playing the rdle of a preacher, a politician
and a soldier dates from the early Rajaput period. Then his degradation to
the state of a Sudra by preferring to follow the occupation of agriculture
divested him of his remaining respect due to birth. The different restric*
tions in food and marriage which led to the Brahmin sub-castes undermined
their respect and importance to the society at large, and they became
entangled in their own caste foibles and feuds, being not a bit higher than
other Hindu castes.

Among Brahmins those of Anandpura (later on known as Va^nagar)
had preserved their traditions of culture and learning, as well as a taste for
living up to high ideals. But what could be said of these Brahmins of the
Valabhl and the Calukya period cannot be said of those of the middle period
even upto the modern times. The Nagar ministers, the Nagar generals and
the Nagar Pandits and poets became rare. To know of their social life we
have to turn to the poems by Premanand, centering around the life-episodes
of Narsiihh Mehta. The dearth of girls and the consequent high dowry
among them became proverbial. The Nagar ladies were tender in form,
preferring pearl ornaments, their husbands were enterprising and going
abroad to seek fortune either in State or Army, the ladies were quite devoted
to their husbands, occasionally writing letters and expectant of their return
— these Brahmins were marked out from society. (Cf. ‘ quoted

above.) They were accomplished and knew how to appreciate the best in
life. Their usual profession made them known as Mutaaddis, i. e. the writer-
class. Some of them knew Persian and wrote in it like Diwan Rapchodjii the
author of Tarikh-i-Sorath. The love of fine arts, especially music, was
prominent among them.

There was another type of Brahmin Pandit who was always too con-
scious of his learning, was proud of state patronage, was usually a good fighter
in debates and thought that there was nothing more for him to know. Some
took to medical prdfession with their crude ways of treatment and diagnosis;
others preferred or supplemented the more lucrative vocation of a fortune-
teller. Others were not ashamed of utilising the black magic by playing the
role of a magician, and the superstitious people of the society were not slow
to avail of their services. The Doctor’s profession was not restricted to the
Brahmins alone; barbers, Bavas, Jatis, and even Kolis were the common
quacks in the society. Caste dinners were their only occupation which
engaged them mostly. Some pretended to expound Vedanta, themselves
being quite innocent of it, with an eye to get com in charity. Some became

136 CULTURAL HISTORY OP GUJARAT

money-lenders and even the poor were not exempt from their usury. Some
preferred to be votaries of the left-hand path (Vdmamdrga) in order to throw
veil over the use of wine and flesh. They took recourse to black arts and magic
in order to earn money. They had no scruples in taking gifts or charity of
any despicable thing. They hankered after securing yearly allowances from
the State with very little self-respect. They had forgotten their daily reli-
gious rights. Some lived upon the pittance which they could get by read-
ing Puranas on open streets. Some had no objection even to be assistants
at a Boree’s shop. Some even carried errands and some went begging from
house to house. Some were living by fetching water or by becoming cooks.
Some had learnt Persian and were serving the Mahomedans. Some used to
tyrannise over their own caste-fellows on certain caste-questions.* This
was the state to which the aristocrat-pauper was reduced when the British
occupied Gujarat.

The next was the group of persons whose duty was to protect the
society against onslaughts of every sort. The State, represented by these
Ksatriyas, as one of the groups in society, was essentially military in its
organisation. Its specific function was to maintain peace and order, and to
see that the different groups worked in harmony, and no confusion of
(Unctions arose.

The government was an executive organisation expected to carry out
the best interests of the people. The State did not include the other institu-
tions, trade-guilds, family-life etc., which were allowed freedom to manage
their own affairs. It did not interfere with arts, science and religion, while
it secured the external conditions of peace and liberty. The functions of the
State, then, were practically limited and did not embrace the whole of social
life. In spite of its attainments to the principle of non-violence, Hindu
society made room for a group dedicated to the use of force. As long as
human nature is what it is, as long as society has not reached its highest
level, we required the use of force. So long as society has individuals who
are hostile to all order and peace, it has to develop controls to check the
anti-social elements. *

These anti-social forces gather together for revolt when the structure
of society is shaken by war or internal dissensions. But these guardians
of the society themselves committed a breach of trust and the cus-
todians of public property and safety became instruments of torture and

26. The above picture of Brahmins in mediaeval society is given from Kr§ua-
raitj’s poem of 18t8 A. D. (S, V, 1874), stanzas 10-60.

SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC ORGANISATIONS : COMMUNAL LIFE

187

oppression.’^ This was due to the low birth and want of good traditions in
persons in power. (Cf . ‘ 0 • Hence justice was

miscarried. Their only eye was on the fines to be recovered, and not
on giving redress. Bribery anS corruption were rampant in administration.
Every imaginable tax was levied and exacted with force. Even taxes on
vegetables were farmed out, which were revised and enhanced almost every
year. The company of public women and their music was their recreation.

Even though calling themselves ‘ ’ they hardly came to

the rescue of a Brahmin or a cow. The soldiers who formed the guard of
the cities were at night found to be free-booters, looting whatever they could
lay their hands upon. The ruling chiefs indulged in debauchery and their
illegal progeny posed in the public as * royal-born ’ and heirs to the State. The
officers had no scruples in throwing off their allegiance if it served their
private needs. The rulers were not careful to act up to the 'Dharma' laid
down for them and were equally indifferent as to the conduct of the ruled.
The short lives of these rickety princes added much more to the miseries of
the people, and claimants to heirship caused much political unrest. This is a
grim but a true picture of the governance of Gujarat under the Mahomedan
and the Maratha rulers.

The typical Rajaput, claiming his descent from some illustrious ruling
family, had not thrown off the form befitting martial blood, though the spirit
had disppeared long ago. With many of them their very appearance, their
gait and self-composure, supported their role. With steady, untroubled eye,
straight nose and sensitive nostrils, fair-skin, ‘ pride in their port ’ and
self-restraint in every gesture, they moved through the mass of common
men as if conscious of a higher mission. He would rather starve for several
days than go a-begging; he would not' leave off twisting his whiskers and
moustaches; and his air of superiority he would try to maintain at all cost.

The besetting sin of these Rajaputs was their proneness to flattery which
usually kept them in the dark as to the actual state of things They could
not brook to hear their weak points. Their principal recreation, which gene-

27. Cf. Harilild by Bhima •' —

“

qrfe,

Cf. Kr?];;iaram's poem, stanzas 61 -79; ^

also ^ ‘ Wr ’

Km ^

188

CULTUHAL HISTORY OF GUJARAT

rally resulted in the ruin of themselves and their caste, was opium-taking.
The Rajaput indulged in this luxury while seated in the company of his hangers-
on, where sometimes a bard would recite some semi-imaginary tales of the
prowess of his probable ancestors, the whole company of the Dayaro — ^these
opium-eaters nodding their heads in assent or perhaps in a dose. Such
gatherings are not rare even to-day, in parts of Gujarat and Sauras^ra. This
weakness of the Rajaput led to the confiscation or mortgage of his property.
He scarcely escaped from the clutches of the money-lender who went on
advancing money at the highest interest until the ownership of the mortgage-
property passed on to him. Sometimes the whole 'Grdsa’ had to be mort-
gaged to raise sufficient dowry to marry a daughter in a family either equal
to or even higher than one’s own in point of gentility and blood, just to
preserve one’s self-respect, at a very high cost. It was thus that many of the
Vanias of Gujarat and Saurastra became big landholders, even though they
had no claims to nobility befitting a landlord. The system of polygamy was
given an undue importance by them and to maintain many wives was looked
upon as a claim to high respect; and the intrigues of the co-wives was a pro-
minent feature of their home-life.

The practice of Purdah or Hojal was adopted by the Rajaput as well
as the Garasia ladies; and this system still lingers in their society even though
the cause, viz., the oppression of the Mahomedans, has disappeared long
since. The company of these Hojal ladies consisted of low-bred maid-
servants who helped to poison their ears against one another and in procuring
imposter children. Sometimes these Khavasanas gained such an upper hand
over their mistresses that they were puppets in their hands. We get a
fairly good idea of the part they played from /Kanakamalika’, one of the
characters of Premanand.

Due to the political unrest in the land they had very little time or ease
to think of patronising literature and hence we are at a loss to estimate their
quota in helping the poets and writers to prosper under their patronage. The
Desai of Nandurbar — Shakardas who helped Premanand, and Rakhidas who
patronised Samalbhatt are exceptions. The court of Jam Satrusalya
(Chatrasal) did patronize Srikaptba, who composed Rasakaumudl in Sanskit
in 1680 Samvat.

In Gujarat proper, the third in order of the original four Vari>as, but
the second in point of importance in the social fabric of the middle ages, was
the merchant Bania. We have mentioned elsewhere how his vegetarianism
helped him to brush aside the Rajaput from his second place in Gujarat soci-
ety, when the latter did not give up wine and flesh, in spite of the doctrine
of Ahimsa, since 10th century A. D. The great wealth that he earned by his

SOCIAL AND SCONOBnc OBCANISATIONS : COUWNAL UFB

189

enterprise in trade, and also his great influence at the court during the Hindu
as well as the Mughal period raised the status of the Vaisya considerably..

It was since the days of Buddhism and Jainism that the Sre^^hin or the
Nagara Seth of the town came into prominence. The honour which was due
to the Brahmins in the Brahminic age was then transferred to the merchant
who utilised his huge profits in financing monasteries (Viharas) and other
works of philanthropy, from a spirit of communalism preached by those two
religions. It was thus, how the Mahajan and the Sre$thin came to figure in
the Jataka tales and the different Jaina Sutras and Kathas.

The merchant who had come to be raised in social estimation was not
affected by the rise of Neo-Brahmanism in the 8th century, as under it animal-
sacrifices were not revived and the spirit of non-slaughter had begun to per-
meate the life of the Hindus. The ramification of caste into sub-castes based
on the principles of food and marriage settled his position once for all in
Gujarat which had begun to patronise Jainism with its special stress on
Ahiihsa since the days of the Solankl rule. The merchant, however, did
play the role of a soldier during the Hindu rule upto 1300 A. D., but then it
was not his special occupation. Trade, both by land and sea, with ships
owned and manned by them, was the outstanding feature of their enterprise
and intelligence.

This marks the rise of the ‘ Middle Class ’ in Gujarat. It was under
Mularaja Solankl that the scattered rays of civilization and culture were
first concentrated and brought to a focus with a result that the representative
culture of Gujarat was first made manifest in a distinct form. Anhilvad
Pa^an had already become a centi'e of political control which held the dif-
ferent forces into unison. Learning and commerce added more plumes in
the crest of the king of Gujarat. Culture and wealth began to flow in the
capital of Gujarat and this growing civilisation was given a healthy tone
to the Gujarati society by the new settlements of Brahmins from the nor-
thern centres of Aryan culture. Gujarat, as a cultural unit, first took its
form since this peri<jd. Saivism was the religion of the State and Jainism
also shared the royal patronage. The Jaina community with its strong con-
victions in religious doctrines of rigid and ascetic life combined the practical
wisdom of a merchant on the one hand, and their staimch opponents, the
Saivite Nagars on the other hand, with their statesmanlike spirit coupled
with learning and a taste for the beautifuMn life, when required.

Both these sects evolved different schools of learning and the Pandits
vied with one another in their love for knowledge, as well as their craze for
establishing their superiority. The Rajaput class occupied an intermediate

190

CULTURAL HISTORY OF GUJARAT

position between the two representatives of individual cultures* The mer-
chant drinking at the fountain of knowledge from the learned, and prosper-
ing under care and protection of the ruling class, was trying to exploit the
wealth of the world in trade, confident of his patience, zeal and enterprise.
The culture of Gujarat came to be moulded at the hands of this rising middle
class.

In Gujarat the middle class forms a preponderant element, and gene-
rally it is so in a commercial country. The authority wielded by its Mahajan
is sometimes more far-reaching than that of rulers. It has held its own
against the onslaughts of the bigoted Mahomedans and the turbulent
Marathas, and has benefited from their contact where it was possible with-
out losing its individuality. The credit of the ‘Shah’, as the Bania was called,
was much more respected than that of a Padashah, meaning thereby ‘one-
fourth of a Shah Hence has come about that assimilation of different
cultures — Islamic, Zoroastrian, animistic — which look like a homogeneous
whole.

The four chief occupations which attracted the merchant class were
shipping and trade, jewellery, banking and moneylending, and cloth-selling.*''
But generally a Bania had no hesitation in following any profession which
would earn him a livelihood. As a grocer, a hawker or even an admini-
strator he could be found in society. He was by nature timid, frugal, but
intelligent. He was not capable of appreciating fine arts generally.

Among the two principal sections of the merchant class, the Jaina was
always ready to cross the sea, as it was not prohibited by the religion; the
Vai$nava hardly undertook voyages. The temples, the Brahmins, the
Pandits and Puranis were mostly looked after and supported by them. Thus
it came about that, as the heroes and heroines of popular tales and romances
as well as episodes of Jaina Puranas, the Vaisya replaced the Ksatriyas. It
is a clear fact that commerce and voyages on sea did much to loosen the
shackles of narrow conventions and stereotyped ways of living. Contact with
people of different countries and cultures rubbed off the rough angularities
and insular tendencies of the enterprising mei chant. Efts vision broadened
and became able to assign his legitimate place* among the people of the world.
The Gujarati merchant, wherever he went, was able to get a hearty welcome

28. Vide Khemd Ha(jtdlid-‘no-Rdsa (1550 Saxhvat).

29. Cf. Samalbhafs * VidyavilasinI Brhat Kdvyadohanat Part III, p. 243, where
four sons of a merchant declare in succession their adopted vocation : that

(0 ‘’Fist 'Rig (R) (?) ‘ «n5t 5f % ,

«!m simz# and (v)

SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC ORGANISATIONS! COMMUNAL LIFE

m

to his refined vision and engaging manners in his life and dealings. He had
got a marvellous power of assimilation. It may be due to having passed
through great politicial vicissitudes in the past, or may be due to the blood
of the conqueror Guptas and Gurjaras running through his veins.^"

' But there was another side of the picture. Enterprising still timid,
ingenuous still at times frank, lenient still very exacting, he threw off moral
scruples in his dealings. Giving less than the measure, but exacting always
more than he was entitled to, he has been attacked and held up to ridicule
by poets like gamal Bhat and Krsnaram. It is certain that some of them did
play false with their creditors and customers. One outstanding evil atnong
this opulent merchant class w'as their indulgence in the vices of gambling
and public women. The ‘ metrical romances * of both Jaina and non-Jaina
writers are full of this phase of their lives.

The unskilled worker and peasants formed the proletariat. These
castes were the actual living membeis of the social body, each central in itself
and working alongside one another in co-operation. When a new group was
taken into the fold of Hinduism, it was affiliated with one of the four castes.
Many of the peoples from outside were accepted as Ksatriyas. The aboriginal
and other non- Aryan classes went to increase the elastic group of the Sudras,
after embracing Hinduism.

The castes were not allowed to compete with one another. A man
born in a particular group was trained to its manner, and he found it ex-
tremely hard to adjust himself to a ntw way. Each man was said to have his
own specific nature (sva-hhava) fitting him for his own specific function
(sva-dharma) y and changes of Dharma or function were not encouraged; be-
cause a certain change of function, when the nature is against its proper
fulfilment, may simply destroy the individuality of the being. The four
castes represented men of thought, men of action, men of feeling and others
in whom none of these is highly developed. Of course, these were the
dominant and not the exclusive characters.

The one draviback of this institution of heredity in occupations has
caused the loss of artistic vitality and has affected much of our industrial
population. However, a building craftsman of the old days, though he had

30. Cf. Prof. B. K. Thakores Pre.sidcntial address. History Section, at the 6th
Gujarati Sahitya Parishad (1920) Ruport; p. 21 : —

192

CULTURAL HISTORY OF GUJARAT

fewer political rights, less pay and less comfort too, was more happy as he
enjoyed his work. His work was the expression of his life. The worker,
whether a mason or a bricklayer, a blacksmith or a carpenter, was the member
of a great co-operative guild, initiated into the secrets of his crafts at an
impressionable age. He was dominated by the impulse to create beauty.
But in the later times specialisation has robbed the worker of pride and
craft. Work has now become business, and the worker wants to escape from
it, and seeks his pleasure outside in cinema and music-halls.

We may here refer to some changes that occurred in the composition
of our artisan class in Gujarat, as distinct from what came about in their
organisation. The religious persecution carried on by the bigoted adherents
of Islam was mainly responsible for these changes. As a result of that per-
secution, many people became converted to Islam, and among them many of
the artisans also could not have escaped unscathed. If the historians be
trusted, no forcible means were used towards the peaceful classes of the
population who were only induced to embrace the new faith by material
exactions in the form of poll-tax. With peaceful classes peaceful means were
tried; the case was different with those who had taken up arms, he had either
to die or to become a Mahomedan. It is said that according to the command-
ments of the Prophet no forcible means were lawful; only a poll-lax was to
be levied from those who abided by their old faith. However, the fact stands
that there were many Mahomedan weavers and printers in Gujarat in the
17th and 18th centuries, and undoubtedly they survive even to-day. All
these could not have migrated from Arabia or Persia and whether by
peaceful or forcible means the ancestors of many of them were converted
from the Hindu population. Thus from the religious and social points of
view, another artisan class came into existence.

But it could not be said that this change introduced any adverse effect
from the economic point of view. Although converted to Islam the people
could not unlearn their traditions and, of course, the principle of heredity
was preserved in tact. Consequently the skill and trade secrets of every
family descended in unbroken continuity from generfirtion to generation.
The artisan class who took to weaving had somehow come to be grouped
among the untouchables, which tendency prevails even to-day; it cannot be
that the profession was low or despicable, as we find it raised in popular esti-
mation by Lord Buddha. The only plausible explanation, therefore, of the
introduction of these new factors among the artisan class of weavers, is that
some of the low tribes who were always kept out of the pale of the Hindu
society on account of the filthy occupations they followed, adopted weaving
as their profession; and retained their low status owing to the growing

SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC ORGANISATIONS; COMMUNAL LIFK

193

rigidity of social environments, who in earlier times would have been easily
accepted as Sadras.

While the professional weaver and other artisans were being subject-
ed to these changes, the occupations of ginning, bowing and spinning of cotton
remained entirely a home-industry virtually in full possession of the females
in almost every family. It was an indispensable part of national economy,
owing to special social circumstances of the Hindu community. These were
the only occupations which could profitably occupy the leisure time of one-
half of the population by these means; the females could, not only supply
the clothing needs of the family or earn honourable livelihood if necessary,
but could also supjdement the scanty income of the male members. From
the earliest times it was considered a duty as sacred as cooking food for the
family; and with traditional tenacity the Hindu women stuck to this ta^,
until their efforts were rendered useless by machine-spun yam.

More than seventy per cent, of the population of Gujarat depend upon
agriculture for their livelihood directly or indirectly. That occupation kept
the people busy only six out of the twelve months of the year and they needed
a supplementary occupation, to employ their time profitably. When cotton
manufacture of India in general and of Gujarat in particular supplied the
needs of the world, it brought supplementary occupation and income to the
agricultural classes. When women did not help in the fields, they took to
spin, and men also did the same in their leisure hours. Although this
brought scanty income, it kept the families from starvation, and helped them
to overcome the effects of a lean year. This occupation has been incidentally
mentioned in literature which shows that not only women of lower or middle
classes, but also those of higher classes in Gujarat, spun as a habit and
produced yarn. The line occurring in. Premanand’s Okhd Havana, at the
time when Uma receives Aniruddha, her son-in-law, with the customary
rituals prevailing in the higher classes even to-day in Gujarat, at the cere-
mony known as ‘Ponkhanu’ (qjgg) assigns a high place to ‘sgn;’ (traka)
which spins cotton and helps ultimately to clothe the world. It should not
be thrown away to stare away evil, while the bridegroom is ushered into the
threshold of marriage-bower." There are a score of references in social songs
and local proverbs” in Gujarati which testify that the spinning wheel
went a long way to support high class widows who could do no other physi-
cal labour to maintain themselves without leaving their homes.

/

31. cf. «< m gjjiii ! n smflj st+g '■t. ”

32. Cf- “ ^ wm ^ fluw. ■’

13

194

CtJtTUftAL HXSTOBY OF OUJAftAf

It was a common custom in GujarSt and Saura^fra in Hindu homes in
the middle ages for daughters-in-law and mother-in-law to do spinning dur-
ing the afternoon leisure hours. The daughter in-law found at times her
task rather exacting and tedious, when at every moment she wished to be
with her mother. Due to this distraction of mind, the yarn was not coming
out uniform and it was giving way at times, so much so, that out of a pound
of cotton, such wastage amounted to a quarter of a ser ! She had patiently to
put up with the displeasure of her mother-in-law and her sister-in-law, the
latter of whom might have been present, after an evasion of duty at her
own house. Naturally the daughter-in-law remembers her kind mother.**

The first brought to light by Mahatma Gandhi, in the

columns of Navajivana (25th May 1924) by one Ratanbai of Kaira, composed
in Saihvat 1635, is the most convincing of our authorities about the existence
of this home-industry of spinning mostly done by ladies of the Gujarati
homes. Not only to the widows but even to married women unprovided for,
the spinning wheel was a source of livelihood. The autobiography of
Ratanbai is really telling. Her husband had gone abroad, to earn. After
twelve long years, he thought of returning home having earned a potful and
a half of rupees. But through mishap, his earnings slipped into a river while
crossing. Poor as he was, he was turned out by his parents; then he and
Ratanbai stuck to the spinning wheel religiously, and within a short time
were able to pay up their debts and even amass a good deal. They could
go for a pilgrimage and spend handsomely in charity, and even distribute
presents among their caste-fellows. Such was Ratanbai’s spinning wheel,
which yielded much more than was desired.”*

The imaginary dialogue instituted by. Samalbhatt between King
Ravana ^d his subjects, the majority of whom could be identified with the
artisan class, hinges on one crucial question put to the representatives
of the 18 Varnas, (4 chief ‘Varnas’, 9 ‘ Narus^ and 5 ‘Karus* — already ex-
plained in the chapter on “Race and Population*’) each of whom gives his

33. 5) dt d

^1?: ^ qii dter:

6rg ^ dtossr—

34 .

SOCIAL AND feCONOMIC OBOANISATIOMS : COMMUNAL LDTE

195

opinion on the point at issue, viz., whether to give back Sita or not ? The
opinions which the poet has ingeniously managed to express in form of
proverbs, as many as 60, suggestive of the life and environments of the par*
ticular person, are very important from a sociologist’s point of view." It
seems as if a man is not able to forget his innate self and position in society;
and the particular occupation he follows leaves an indelible mark on the
mentality of the person.

Even though Gujarat is a land of villages, there were cities, rich and
great and famous; but they were few in number for the size of the country. It
was so because nine Indians in ten lived in villages. It is interesting to inquire
how towns arose in some places in the province rather than in others, and
what made some towns grow so much faster than others and become so large.
As we have shown elsewhere, where the land was very fertile, people
spread over it and preferred to live in villages rather than collect together
in towns.

Towns had arisen near strong forts, on the banks of rivers, in sacred
places, on islands, on harbours, on trade-routes and near great military and
administrative stations. The passage from country or village to town is
described in general terms as the change from a condition of status to that of
contract; the theoretical distinction being that “the former led a more indivi-
dualistic life while the latter led a more communal life. In cities, for ex-
ample, water-supplies, sewage systems, food-supplies, methods of transpor-
tation and various public activities are used in common by all; while in the
country, each household has its own well, its own garden, its own means of
transportation.”'* Usually this individualistic character belonged pre-
eminently to agricultural communities. This supplied one test of townhood,
as the word “urban” could not be applied to those places where the majority
of workers belonged to agriculture. But where the majority of workers
were engaged in either industry, trade or transport, there the place was
called a ‘ town ’. It was usually in this sense that the distinction was under-
stood in GujarM. An urban area was usually known as a ‘Kasba’, where
the occupations wer^ varied and the arts (Kasabs) obtained.

To mention some of the towns and cities in Gujarat which owed their
importance and even lost it, in turn, owing to the vicissitudes in the political
history of the country, we may mention Caihpaner as the most striking. It
is said to have been founded about the same period as Anhilvad Patan. It
was the stronghold of Raval Jaisirhha when Mahamud Begada took it in

35. VideBthat Kdvyadohana, Part I, pp. 519-527 (1925).

36. Quoted in Barova Census Report, 1921, p. 66.

CULTURAL RIBTORT OF OU^ARAf

1484 and made it the political capital of Gujarat. From this date up to the
death of Bahadurshah (1536) the close connection between Malwa and
Gujarat favoured the city’s growth, and the safety with which things could
be stored in its hill-fort, gave it a special value in the eyes of the Gujarat
Sultans. Until pillaged by Htunayun in 1535 — ^it remained the capital and
headquarters of Bahadurshah. But Bahadur’s death in the next year and
transfer of the court and the capital to Ahmedabad, prevented Caihpaner
from regaining its former glory. Off the main lines of traffic, the loss of
Gujarat ascendancy over Malwa took away from Caihpaner its chief claim
to importance. Under the Mughals, though it continued to be the head of a
district, still by the middle of the 17th century, the same Caihpaner had be-
come a hunting groimd for wild animals !

Another striking instance is of a comparatively recent town namely
Viramgam. Commanding the entrance to Saura^tra* the Mughal viceroys
had chosen it as the headquarters of the Zalavad district; and in the dis-
turbances of the 18th century it was a scene of several struggles. The same
Viramgam at the beginning of the 19th century, “situated at the meeting of
now unmolested high-roads from Rajputana, from Zalava^, from Ahmeda-
bad and from three sea-ports of Dholera, Bhavnagar and Gogha, had be-
come a rendezvous for droves of cattle laden with silks, clariiied butter, raw
sugar and dyes from the warehouses of Visnagar and Radhanpur, and for
carts bringing dry goods from Kaccha, and grain from the fertile district of
Patan.”” The railways have further helped to maintain its importance
even up to day.

The dimensions of Gujarat cities were usually not very big as in the
case with modem cities, although poetical accounts do embellish them with
“84 markets” with a sufficiently big population. With the solitary exception of
Aphilvad Pafan which was a big city, being the capital of Gujarat under the
rule of the Capotkatas, Solahkis, Vaghelas and the Mahomedans, most of the
prominent cities of Gujarat did not contain a population of more than 30,000
to 40,000. Broach, an all-India port, was, during the time of its highest glory,
only 20 li or 4 miles in circuit, i. e., only one square miloiin area. “The ave-
rage flourishing and important city in ancient Gujarat was a square mile and
a quarter in extent; its population then could hardly have, on the average,
exceeded 25,000. If such was the case with capitals, ports, and forts, what was
the case of towns which were district headquarters and subdivisional head-
quarters, we can well infer. These were not the places even of petty chiefs
who could attract to them the needy Brahmin or the aspirant poet; sometimes

35. Bom. Gax., IV, p. 93.

SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC ORGANISATIONS : COMMUNAL LITE

197

it is true that the ‘Dutaka ’ or the Governor of a district was a scion of the
royal family; so he may have had a petty court of his own. But this must not
have resulted in any appreciable augmentation of population. There were no
irresistible economic forces operating at the time, as they operate now, caus-
ing villages to be depopulated and cities overcrowded. So these towns, on the
average, could hardly have had a population of more than 10,000.’'" More-
over the adjudication of civil and criminal disputes used to take place locally
in every village. Whenever a village was granted away, the donee was inva-
riably invested with the right of receiving the proceeds of fines in civil and
criminal cases that were adjudicated in the village. Thus the ancient villager
had not to run up to the Taluka and Zilla head-quarter for the adjudication
of the pettiest disputes, civil or criminal. As ancient Gujarat villages were
independent, self-contained units, economically as well as administratively,
they had adversely affected the development of Zilla head-quarters into cities
of considerable dimensions.

Secular public buildings were not many in ancient towns and cities.
Administration being largely decentralised, only a public hall existed for the
transaction of public business, for the preservation of public records and
other important purposes. Religious public buildings, i. e., temples, Viharas
and Dharmasalas, abounded in cities; and their charity was usually directed
to the erection, reparation, enlargement or endowment of temples and
Viharas. If after the Mahomedan rule of more than three hundred years,
Vadnagar could possess in 1609 A. D. more than 300 temples, as noted by
Abul Fazal, we may well conclude that the average Gujarat town of our
period possessed far more temples than the average modem town.

About water-supply, where citizens were unable to get the necessary
amount from wells, large tanks were usually constructed for that purpose. In
capital cities tanks were many, and some of them were set apart as public
baths. It appears that gardens and orchards were an important feature
of ancient Gujarat towns and cities. In fact, the presence of numerous
temples and pious devotees as well as the luxurious Mahomedan governors of
Gujarat inevitably eatailed the laying out of numerous gardens. These gardens,
though originally intended for the purpose of divine worship, had also inci-
dentally served the purpose of human recreation.

Gujarat cities were wealthy; for, besides the natural wealth of the
province there was the commercial talent of its inhabitants to help the accu-
mulation of wealth. Most of the flourishing cities were noted for their trade
and commerce. Valabhipura with its one hundred millionaires, as observed

38. Dr. Altekar, Ancient towns and cities in Gujarat and KdtMdwdr (1824), p. SI;

198

an.TOIIAL KCSTOBY OF GUIASAT

by Hiuen Tseng, was a capital, where the rarest merdiandise in India was
being stored in its mart. Prabhasa was no doubt a Tirtha, but part of its
wealth was due to its being a steaming station for boats plying between
Africa and China, Broach and Mesopotamia. Kapadvanaj was only a Taluka
place, but it had risen in importance because it was on the trade-route
between Broach and Central India. The rise of Dholka, Cambay, Ghogha,
Mangrol and Godhra was primarily due to commerce.

Merchants were, then, an important class in Gujarat towns and cities.
Many of them were merchant-princes. Many of the merchant-ministers were
sarrafs and bankers : Udayana, Teja^pala and Vastupala, from the early
period, and Shantidas Zaveri of the Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb period in
Ahmedabad. The bankers of the Peshwas and the Gaikwad, Haribhakti
Vallabha, Sundar and Tapidas Kasidas were famous bankers and had opened
several branches of their business at the various cities of Gujarat and even
India. These merchants, if rich, were also liberal : and many of the city-
improvements and temple-repairs were possible only through their liberality.
The local administration of these towns and cities was generally entrusted to
committees mostly of non-officials, looking after water-supply, repairs of
public temples and buildings, drainage and road-repairs and other municipal
functions. Person and property was safe, as even Mahomedan traders admit
that they could apprehend no danger in Gujarat cities though they were in
a minority. Divided into various sects and creeds though the Gujaratis
were, still the citizens lived amicably. Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism,
Mahomedanism and Zorostrianism existed side by side, each contributing
a valuable share in the formation of the culture of Gujarat.

We have already dealt with the village community proper, which
consisted exclusively of husbandmen. All other residents from the shop-
keeper to the sweeper, were strangers within the gates, not regarded even by
themselves as having any inherent right to a voice in the management of
communal affairs. This was especially true of the artisan. He was distinctly
known as the settlor, ‘ Vasvaya ’ (it may also mean craftsman, from the

craft) — the man who has 'come to stay’ in the place, for the convenience of
the original inhabitants. He was not bound down to the place of his resid-
ence by a special contract with the natives of -a village; he could go, if he
so desired, to some central place with more local facility for the exercise of
his craft. As in every village there was among the cultivators a Council
presided over by its elders and regulating the communal concerns, so in
every town, not only among the merchants but even among the goldsmiths,
the carpenters, the metal-workers, the masons, the dyers, the potters, the oil-
pressers, and almost all other craftsmen there was a ‘guild’, a ‘Mahajan’,

■OCIAL AMD ICOMOinc OBGAMISAnOMS : COMMIMAL Un 189

prescribing trade*rules and meeting trade-disputes under the goiidance of its
aldermen.

The growth of these associations was made all the easier if all persons
following the same pursuit belonged to the same caste. Even without this
bond, the faculty for combinations, so strong in the people, enabled them
to unite without difficulty for the promotion of their real or supposed inter-
ests. The primary object of the guild or assembly called the 'Caste-
Pahcayat ’ was to regulate matters relating to the calling of its members,
but as all these were generally of one caste, the Pahcayat gradually assumed
the power of regulating caste-matters also. The headman of the Vanias and
other influential castes were called ‘ Seths ’, and those of the poorer or less
influential ones were called 'Patels’. Although theoretically all the
members of the caste had a right to take part in the deliberations of the
caste Pancayat, along with the headman and the leaders, it was only a few
whose personal qualities had forced them to the front that did so. Caste
authority virtually rested with this Inner Cabinet. A ‘ Mahajan * was, with
respect to matters of trade, what a ' caste-Paficayat ’ was with respect to
matters of caste.

In all the guilds, however, caste occupies an important place. The
craft and trades of each city in Gujarat, during the period under inquiry,
had a guild of their own presided over by a ‘ Sresthin *. The guild had its own
rules, its own bank to advance money to its members, to receive deposits from
them, and to administer guild-charities. The Mandsor inscription (473 A.D.)
describes the constitution and functions of a typical Lay-guild of silk-
weavers of the 5th century who had migrated from Lata. What was true
of the fifth was also true of the later centuries, as even under Mahomedan
and Maratha rule, the internal government either of Pancayats or Mahajans
was allowed to work in their own way.

The guilds were most influential organisations in the social fabric;
and we learn from Prahandhacintdmani that during the excavation of the
Sahasralinga tank at Patan, Siddharaja was engaged in a long war with
Malwa, so the work was entrusted to a committee of craftsmen and ministers
who could finish the great work only by the timely gift of 300,000 by a
merchant-prince. This reference indicates the status and position occupied
by these social organisations in the city. The merchants were so philan-
thropic that they spent money in charity even beyond their town-limits.
During the 13th century Vatapadrapura (moden Baroda), according to
Merutunga, seems to have been a centre of trade, and some merchants from
it are known to have defrayed the expenses of a temple of the Sun at Pa^an
during the reign of Kumarapala (‘ I ’).

202

CULTURAL HOtTORY Of GUJARAT

Dharma, and later on the SwSminSriya^a sect from Pu^fi Sariipradiya. The
history of the evolution of religions has shown that, however great the
founder of a new religion, he must bring it into harmony, in some degree,
with his environing world, or it will not live. All the higher religions show
this necessity, and indicate that no person can disregard the social processes
at work in human society.

Every new religion, every fresh development of religion, must pass
out of the personal stage, and become socialised, before it can meet with a
success that is enduring and effective. It must lit into the old religious ideals
to a degree which insures that it will be accepted widely. Then it is neces-
sary that it shall appeal to youth, to women, and to the great democratic
mass of the people. The ready acceptance of Bhakti creed or the path of
devotion, as mentioned in the Bhagawad Gita was due to the fact that it had
thrown open the doors of final beatitude, through Bhakti, to women as well
as to the Sudras. Hence a simple and uniform code of religion was devised
to suit the illiterate, without any distinction of sex or caste.

In Gujarat, men of mercantile propensities, men of the crafts and the
women-folk constituted the earliest fellowship, gathering around Vaisnavism
of Sri Vallabha Acarya preached by his son Vitthalanatha, early in the 16th
Century. So it has also been in the history of religion in other provinces of
India. The Varkari Sampradaya of Maratha Saints in the Deccan, which
included many who were non-Brahmins, and generally Sudras of both sexes;
the followers of Caitanya in Bengal, the devotees of Tulasidas* Rama-Cult,
promulgated two centuries ago by RamananHa, the first popular religious
preacher in the second millenium of the Chri.stian era, did not hesitate to
enlist a weaver, a Camar and even a Mahomedan among his disciples.

What men believe in regard to God and the future life, will vary in
large degree with reference to the forms of their social institutions. Where
there is an autocratic chief, the God will be accepted as of the same nature
as their ruler. Especially is this true where a people have developed a
political form of institution admitting of kingly rule and power. Dwarakesa
the Lord of Dwarka, as well as Ranachhodrai of Dakorr, are worshipped in
the right royal way, as the highest spiritual King and Godhead, whose grace
devotees seek to secure. It is the ‘ RajasI Klaryada or Temporal worship,
different from the one followed in the Puisti temples of Balakf^^a. The
former cherishes the traditions of the kingdom of Yadavas in old Dwarki,
where Kri^^a was the consecrated leader and the uncrowned king of the
Yadavas : — the Kf^na, not of Gokula and V^ndavana days, a mischievous
child playing his pranks with his companion Gopas (cowherds) and milk-
maids, but Krisna of the Mahabharata war to whom had approached both

THE BlUOIOtn FACTORS : RKUOIOUS OtSTRimOMS

203

Ar|una and Duryodhana, each requesting him to side with him, with his
sinews of war. The name ‘Ranachhoda" a corruption of Sanskrt
(Ra^a-sau^da) meaning ' clever in war ’ is significant of the phase in Kr^pai’s
later life.

The Vaisnavite revival in Gujarat preferred the romantic and the pre-
cocious childhood of ^r! Kr^na for devotion, which highly appealed to the
cowherds and the milkmaids who lived a guiltless life of communal love and
fellowship, giving full scope for the expression and display of a tender home-
life with its phases of parental and friendly love.

The free intercourse of the lower classes with saints and religious
teachers in the middle ages, i. e., from 1300 A. D. upto 1818, had a great influ-
ence in raising the general religious tone of these once animistic and super-
stitious people to the level of devout Hindus, now even more devout in the
observance and practice of religion than the so-called higher classes, who had
grown very lax in the observance of religious injunctions and preservation
of birth-purity.'

Vaisnavite preachers and saints have preached that the day of deliver-
ance had come for women and the Sudras who were downtrodden and
despised in the previous centuries. Now the doors of the religious life were
thrown open to them without reference to sex, caste or high birth, through
Pauranic lore, Kirtanas, Seva and a strict code of religious purity, even
putting the higher castes to .shame in their higher thoughts and ways of
living. They led a life of plain-living and high-thinking which evinced a

1. The Sanskrt text of ‘ ^iSTI'n ’ (Dahka Purapa) or ‘ ' (Pahkapura-ma-

hatmya) appears to be written about the end of the 17th Century A.D., which
narrates how Dwarakesa was brought to pakorc by one Vijayasiihha, alias
Bodano, in Samvat 1212. Early reference to this episode is not traceable in lite-
rature prior to the days of Premanand, Samal, Vallabh Bhatt. and other poets
of the I8th Century. The spread of Babucara cult and that of Ranachhodrai
m Gujarat appear almost contemporary. The modern temples at Pakore and
Bahucara were buili by Peswa's Shroff Tambvekar and Manaji GaekwSd res-
pectively, in the lafter half of the 1 8th Century. The etymology is explained
by the episode just referred to : ^ I

5EfRr: 11 ’ Mirabai, however, refers to Rapachhoda of Dwaraka and not of

Pakore in the song : fC ”

2. Cf. Narasithha Mehti’s poem ;

‘5® Jlr»r ®i«it w.’

Also, Surabhatt's Kali-Mahima :

‘ «RnfiTT.% M R5 atra?, 3^ WR.’

204

CULTURAL HISTORY OF GUJARAT

conviction of religious beliefs, unlike the hypocrisy and conventional obser^-
vance of the higher castes.

The Smi-ti Law administered in Gujarat from earliest times, was per-
haps the greatest of the direct influences on social life which proceeded from
the Brahmanic Church. It controlled the law of marriage, it affected the
disposal of property, it vindicated to some extent the rules of morality. The
law of the Brahmapa Sastras was the word of the Lord, an undefiled Law,
converting the Soul; it was the voice of morality, commanding righteousness.
In virtue of that law, Hinduism gave to the raw and untutored aboriginal
peoples the drill of moral habituation. It imposed a definite discipline on a
rude, primitive people. “With the Law came Sin,” — and a sense of sin and
a struggle for deliverance. The clergy, who were in charge of the .morale of
the society, aided the education of the laity at large — just as, through
Pathasalas and monastic schools they provided the main substance of educa-
tion for an individual Gujarati.

Religion in the society of Gujarat permeates the whole of life; and
that every sort of religion, appealing to the diverse inhabitants of Gujarat,
is primarily social and has its origin and sanction in the life of the com-
munity. What the group did, the individual followed without doubt or
hesitation. The religious group acted as if one person, though its members
retained their individuality to the fullest extent.

II. Buddhism

Theology begins with the worship of the things of heaven, and ends
with the worship of the things of earth. We have, first, the worship of the
sky-Gods; then of those that rule the atmosphere; lastly, of those that rule
on Earth. Thus the Vedic Gods were departmental deities, each nominally
invested with a special sphere of action; but then offices were being confound-
ed; and the function of one deity was without hesitation attributed to another.
“ In the Vedic Hymns,” writes Dr. Hopkins, “ man fears the Gods, and imagines
God. In the Brahmanas, man subdues the Gods, and fears God. In the Upani-
^ads, man ignores the Gods and becomes God.’” But the higher teaching of the
Upanisads was known only to a few learned scholars. The masses were becom-
ing more and more superstitious. Contact with the original inhabitants
had led them to adopt the worship of stones, trees, and animals. The perform-
ance of sacrifice had assumed a great prominence and a large number of ani-
mals were slaughtered on the occasion. Hence the reformation assumed a
two-fold shape : first, the rise of the two so-called heretical movements, which

3. Religions of India (1895), page 216.

THE RELIOIOUS FACTORS : RRUGIOUS INSTmmOMS 205

culminated in Buddhism and Jainism; secondly, the almost contemporane-
ous evolution of the sectarian gods.

“ Knowledge is wisdom to the Brahmana; asceticism is wisdom to the
Jainas; purity and love is the first wisdom to the Buddhist.” * What the new
creed of Buddha brought was the message of freedom from the Brahmanic
law of sacrifice, and it enjoined the observance of a high moral code. It was
a rule of practical benevolence, gradually displacing the early ideal of mere
personal salvation, and extending its blessings to all who accepted its teach-
ings. Slowly the message spread from the K^atriya class to which it was
first given, to the men in search of peace, whatever his race or caste may be.

Buddhism under Asoka had become state-religion of the Mauryas, but
it is doubtful if it really gained by its absorption into political life. The
accession of world influence was naturally accompanied by a falling off in
spirituality. The transformation of a local cult into a world-wide religion
was the work of Asoka alone. Of his ‘ Edicts ’ which inserted the canons
which were of Catholic nature and true of all religions, the one which comes
within our province is the one at Girinagara — Junagadh, and the other found
at Sopara, the Western outpost of Buddhism. Asoka did not rest satisfied
only with these rock-inscriptions. He had sent missionaries, one Dharma-
raksita, a Yavana, being sent for Aparantaka, i. e., countries on the Western
coast. Thus was Buddhism spread in Gujarat through him in the 3rd Century
B. C. The discovery of a brick Stupa and a Vihara in 1960, by the late Dr.
B. Subbarao at Divani Mori near Samalaji, Sabarkantha Dist. (N. Gujarat),
of the late K^atrapa period, with big brick-red terracotta statuary evincing
Gandharan influence shows a continuity of Buddhism in Gujarat. It linger-
ed in Gujarat for several centuries, but it is only after we come to
the Maitraka period that we get authentic reference to its existence.
Dhruvabhatta, the son-in-law of Harsa, describes himself a ‘ paramopasaka ’
and appears to have turned a Buddhist, perhaps for his father-in-law’s
sake.° When Hieun Tsang visited Valabhi in the middle of the 7th Century,
Buddhism had considerable influence at the court and it had good adherence
in Saura^tra. The Vihara of Dudda, a woman of the royal family, was a great
centre of learning for Buddha Bhiksus. It-sing who came after Hieun Tsang
has observed that the two great Universities in India were those of Nalanda
in Bihar and of Valabhi in Saura^tra. The two Bauddha Pandits Sthiramati
and Gunamati from Valabhi University were invited and received with
great respect in China.

4. Religions of India ( 1895), page 306.

5. Mediaeval Hindu India, I, page 247.

20B

CULTURAL HISTORY OF GUJARAT

With the fall of Valabhi kingdom and the cities, the Viharas and the
religion gradually disappeared. The disappearance was chiefly due to its
natural decay and from the competition of new Sects which arose under the
influence of the reformed neo<Brahmanism. The original creed was per-
haps too simple, and once the immediate pressure of Brahmanism was
removed, it was not sensuous enough to satisfy to a people to whom a form
of worship like that of Kffina was more attractive. Buddhism demanded
from its followers a standard of morality much in advance of their stages of
culture. It involved the discontinuance of sacrifice and of the myriad
methods by which the Hindu tries to win the favour or avert the hostility
of his gods. It abolished such a vague entity as Brahma, into whom
every Hindu hopes to be 'absorbed, and it substituted Nirvana or extinction
as the end of all things. Jainism, by its democratic constitution, retained
a hold on the people which Buddhism failed to secure.

III. Jainism

Jainism was the second heretical movement which led to the establish-
ment of the non-Brahmanical orders, organised as a protest against the exclu-
sion of all but Brahmins from the ascetic fraternities. It was a separatist
movement like Buddhism with the set purpose of reforming and purifying
the social and religious order of the Indian Aryan community as a whole.

The Jaina is more careful of animal life even than the Buddhist, and
to him are due those curious institutions known as ‘ Pdhjarapoles ’ or animal
hospitals in which creatures of all kinds, even vermin, are protected and fed.
Marco Polo, who visited India in the latter part of the 13th Century, has
noticed the customs which the orthodox Jaina communities of Gujarat main-
tain up to the present day. “ They could not kill an animal on any account,
not even a fly or a flea or a louse or anything in fact that has life; for they
say, these have all souls and it would be sin to do so; for the same reason they
ate no vegetables in a green state and spread their food only on dry leaves. "

We may also quote A1 Idrisl, the Arab Traveller of the 11th Century,
on the food and the kind-heartedness of the people rf>f Gujarat, typically
Jainas : “The inhabitants of Naharwala live upon rice, peas, beans, and len-
tils. They have a great veneration for oxeri whom they inter after death.
When their animals are enfeebled by age and are unable to walk, they free
them from all labour and provide them with food without exacting any
return. ”

Jainism is the only one of the early monastic order which has survived
to the present day in India. It escaped the disasters which overcame
Buddhism, partly because its severance from Brahmanism was never so

tHE RELIGIOUS FACTORS : RELIGIOUS INSTITUTIONS

26 ?

complete; partly because it never adopted an active missionery policy, but
preferred to practise its peculiar rights in a quite unobstrusive fashion* But
the main reason is that, unlike Buddhism, it admitted to its Sahgha not only
monks and nuns but lay-brothers and lay-sisters — Sravakas and 3ravikas.
These lay-brothern secured a well-established rank, side by side with the
monastic members, and thus among the Jainas there was none of the rivalry
between monk and lay-men, which in the later stage deprived Buddhism of
the support of the congregation at large.

About the prevalence of Jainism in Gujarat there are three traditions
prevalent. According to one, the text of the Jaina * Sutras ’ was first commit-
ted to writing in V. S. 477 in a Convention of Jaina preceptors, held at Valabhi '
known as * Valabhi Vacana It is generally believed that Jainism spread in
Gujarat since the Calukya period® under Siddharaja and Kumarapala. But
it has been pointed out from references in Kuvalayamdla (Saihvat 835)
that one Sivacandragani had gone for pilgrimage in the north and had settled
at Bhinnamal in the 7th Century. His disciple Yaksadattagani caused
Gurjaradesa to be adorned with Jaina temples; and the alleged help given
by a Jaina Yati to Vanaraja Cavada in founding his kingdom at Anhilvad
has sufficient truth in itJ

The most important event in the history of the Jaina order is the
Schism that related to the wearing of clothes by the ascetics which led to se-
paration, maintained to this day, of the Svetariibara or white-clothed factions,
who are found in the North and West of India, from the Digambara or those
clothed with the sky, in other words, the * naked ' ascetics of the South who
are probably older. The Digarhbaras maintained that a perfect ascetic must
conquer all his emotions and must be perfectly indifferent to worldly thoughts
so as to entertain no idea of nakedness in his mind; while the Svetarhbaras,
taking a more practical view of the matter contended that the wearing of a
white garment is permissible. Due to this difference, necessarily, nuns are
found only among the jSvetarhbaras. The Digarhbaras explain that women
cannot attain liberation (moksa) until a good life has brought them the
privilege of being bom as men, so that they need not become ascetics in the
present life. There are other minor divergencies.'* It is said that formerly

6. Vide, D. B. Diskalkar’s paper on “An outline of the religious history of
Gujarat”, 7th Gujarati Parishad Proceedings (1924).

7. Vide, Vasant Silver Commemoration Volume: Muni Jinavijayajl’s Article on
**Kuvalaya Mala**, pages 268-272.

8* Vide “ MSS. Catalogue in Forbes’ Sabha”, Part I, page 91, where 17 points of
difference are mentioned in a Sahskrt manuscript called
(Digamhara*mata-khan^na ) .

208

CULTURAL msToay or ou/arat

both the sects prevailed in Gujarati But after a public discussion held at
the court of Siddharaja, Digambaras were defeated and had to leave Gujarat
as agreed upon.

A minor Sect was evolved out of the Svetambaras in the 15th Century
at Ahmedabad where Mahomedan influence was very powerful. The s*
protestants who had become convinced of the folly of image-worship argued
that there was no mention of idols in the earliest Jaina books. They, there-
fore, formed a new sect called the ‘Lonka ’ or “Lumpdka mata’, which gave
up the temples-cult altogether. A stricter body called the * Sthanakavasis ’
arose in the 17th century and absorbed them. Thus Gujarat has been the
stronghold of Svetarhbaras since the 11th Century.

In intellectual fields and matters, Jainism was never inferior to
Buddhism; and it has a separate philosophy which is tried to be refuted in the
Brahmaautras of Vyasa. The Jainas were posted in all the necessary Sastras,
Logic and Grammar especially, and their proficiency in Astrology and
Medicine always attracted the respect of the common people. It seems that
intellectual Brahmins also joined the ranks of the Jainas as of the Buddhists,
like Siddhasena Divakara, from time to time, owing to conviction as well
as for honour, and contributed to the maintenance of the reputation of the
Jainas for learning. It is specially remarkable that the Jaina ascetics being
learned men took up the 'Desabhasa* orthePrakrts and the ApabhraihSa
as the vehicle to propagate the religion; as a result, they succeeded in
impressing common people of Gujarat.

The Jainas had, both by their learning, and asceticism, secured favour
at the courts of several kingdoms. It is a fact that a Jaina holyman frmn
Gujarat gave Akbar prolonged instructions for years which largely
influenced his actions; and they secured his assent to the doctrines so far
that he was claimed to have been converted to Jainism. It was through the
teachings of Hiravijayastiri that Akbar stopped slaughter of animals in some
parts of India; and Santicandra who remained at his court has composed an
eulogy of the emperor entitled ‘ Krparasakosa ’ — ‘ Treasury of the quality
of Mercy ’—describing and praising all Aklbar’s merciful acts. When this
ascetic desired to return to Gujarat in 1587, the emperor gave him jirmdns
abolishing the Zaziya tax on non-Muslims and prohibiting slaughter of ani-
mals to a large extent. The forbidden-days were extended so as to comprise
half the year. Bhanucandra Upadhyaya who continued to reside at Court
had taught Akbar 1000 names of the Sun, and had obtained from the
Emperor in 1593 jirmdns abolishing the tax on pilgrims to the holy hill of

THE RELIGIOUS FACTORS: REUCIOUS INSTITUTIONS 209

Satrunjaya at Palitana and directing that all the sacred places should be
made over to Hiravijayasuri.®

The peaceful social relations between Jainas and non-Jainas have al-
ready been referred to and the doctrine of Ahimsa and piety in religious life
had influenced even non-Jainas. Surabhatt (whose ‘Kali-mahimd’ poem has
been alluded to more than once) , has recounted the imdesirable things perpe-
trated in society under the influence of Kaliyuga, things which are distinctly
the Jaina rules of religious observance .-—‘‘People will take their meals at night
time (instead of before the Sun sets) and will use water without straining
it."*“ He also refers to the cultivation of indigo whose manufacture involves
so much of destruction of insects. So also the kilns for preparing mortar
will be allowed to be lighted. Green trees will be cut down for the supply
of timber for building houses. All these, in a great degree, are prohibited as
leading to the destruction of sentient beings, and irreligious wealth thus
obtained would drag him to committing of sins.

Generally the Jaina clergy and the nuns called ‘ Arjas’ (cf.

^ STRSiT ’) were leading a clean life; but in the turbulent centuries
of Mahomedan disturbances in Gujarat when the masses were steeped in
gross ignorance of their respective duties and religious tenets, the Jaina
Yatis, too, had been degraded, and we meet with many a dark picture in
Samalbhatt’s stories. A folk-song severely ridicules the sham penance of a
Jaina Yati during the Caturmasa.'* Some of these Yatis or ‘Gorjis’ as
they were popularly called, used to indulge in black magic and treated
women with various medicines.’" Krsnaram is rather hard on both the Yatis as

9. Vide B/idJidttr/car Commemoration Volume^ “Jaina Teachers of Akbar” by V. A.

‘Hiravijoi/asuri Rd«a ' by R§abhadas, Ananda Kdvya Maho'

dadhi, Part V.

iToft OTl fufi, I'iRT fro.

V. qqr,

% ^ qr jr — cf>K.

^Kali-Mahimd by Surabhatt (Sam vat 1704).

11. “ mK\ "^q —

12 . ‘‘

iriqit Sts'.” — llamalbhatt.

14

210

etrt.TOaAL HISTORY Of GUJARAT

well as the Sravakas, the Jaina laymen. “Food that would relieve a man of
his himger is served to dogs ! They pronoimce ‘ Dharmal&hha* as benedic-
tion, but do not act upto it. They read sermons from non-Vedic texts and
interpret the episodes of Sri iCirsna as merely human.”" But generally ‘Sila’
(good character and morality) was much praised, and Sermons (j<nctrR,
SO. gsura ) for men as well as women composed by Jaina poets during the
same period testify to the high respect that they paid for a morally pure life.
The Jainas, though they did not worship Hindu gods, were none the less
great worshippers of Devi — the Divine Mother in the form of Yaki^i or
Sasanadevi.

IV. Neo-Hinduism

The Hindu thinkers, preachers and teachers, performed the task of
welding together the heterogeneous elements so as to enable them to live in
peace and order, by evolving a ‘ Sanatana ’ Hinduism that would survive the
test of all ages. They reckoned also that men and women swelling in India
belonged to different conununities, worshipped different gods, and practised
different rites.

Hinduism is the religion not only of the Vedas, but of the Epics and
the Purapas gq). “The Vedas, the Sahkhya, the Yoga, the

Pasupata, and the Vaispava creeds, each of them, is encouraged in some
place or another. Some think that this is better or that is better owing to
difference of taste but all men reach unto you, the Supreme, even as all rivers,
however zigzag their courses may be, reach to Sea.” {Mahimna Stotra Verse)
Hinduism of the 9th Century was however not the Brahmanism of the Vedic
times; for with the beginning of the 9th Century A. D. the face of Indian
history had completely changed and Hinduism as it exists today was then
formed from the ancient Aryanism just after the overthrow of Buddhism.
Aryan ‘ India ’ and * Aryan-Buddhistic India ’ had ended and Hindu India,
as it practically is at present, came into being.

13. “ qrro w, i

‘ ’tzdf «W ’ YlS II

M ffRq ‘ snap) ’ I

5nSt h ” — fwirpq.

14. “

irfiik iR«ir5t i

IfiB mCUGlOUS FACTOB8 : RBUGIOCS INSTTrUTIONS

211

It was at this time that the Pura^as were re^dited and amplified and
were devoted to the praise of some one of the five gods (Pailc&yatana).
Siva was a favourite deity with the rising kingly families, though the deity
could be changed. These new Kings were devout worshippers of the P\irap>
ic Gods now enthroned supreme, viz. the five deities of modern Hinduism:
Siva, Vi^nu, SQrya, Dev! and Ganesa, and chiefly of the first. Thus religi*
ously considered, modern Hindu India practically commences from about
the beginning of the 9th century of the Christian era. Due to this rise of
the different modes of worship, the whole country began to be covered over
with temples and idols.

It is believed that idol-worship received great impetus about this period,
and in fact both Aryan and non-Aryan civilizations had joined hands in
evolving this idolatry. Siva, Visnu, and Aditya were Aryan deities and
Ganapati and Sakti or Bhagavati were probably non-Aryan deities," To
these were added the worship of uncouth stones, trees and serpents and the
idolatry became rampant not only among the Aryans but in the non-Aryans
down to the lowest strata of society. An image was, after all, an emblem of
a higher original; but when the sense of its being an image was lost and it
became the God himself, the growth of pious ignorance was unavoidable.

One of the most prominent features of this Hinduism which subsists
today in all its strength is the strengthened belief in the ‘sacredness of the
cow and the bull ’. “The cow has been sacred from the Vedic times; but
Vedic ritual included the sacrifice of cows and bulls. The now strongly
entrenched sentiment of Ahimsa, made the slaughter of cows and bulls even
for Vedic sacrifices one of the five most heinous sins and even the maiming
of cows came to be looked upon as sinful. Both the 6iva and Visnu wor-
ships, which were now enthroned supreme, contributed to the strong belief
in the sacredness of the bovine animah The bull was sacred to Siva and
the cow to Visnu in his highest incarnation as Sri Krsna.”

The bewildering polytheism of the masses and the uncompromising
monotheism of the classes are, for the Hindu, the expressions of one and the
same force at different levels.

Throughout thS history of Hinduism, the leaders of thought and prac-
tice have been continually busy experimenting with new forms and develop-
ing new ideals to suit new conditions. The first impulse of progress came
when the Vedic Aryans came into contact with the native tribes. A similar
impulse contributed to the protestant movements of Jainism and Buddhism

15. See Dr. B. Bhattacaryya’s “Introduction” to Sddhana Mold, Part 11 (G. O.

Series).

16. Vaidya; History oj Mediaeval Hindu India, Vol. 11, page 2.

212

CULTUKAL HISTORY OF GUJARAT

when the Aryans moved out in the Gangetic valley* Contact with the highly
civilised Dravidians led to the transformation of Vedism into a theistic reli-
gion. The reformed movements of Ramananda, Caitanya, Kabir and Nanak
show the stimulus of Islam. The Brahmo Samaja and the Arya Samaja are
the outcome of the contact with Western influences.

V. Vaisnavism

It is difficult to trace the stages of the evolution which led to the
sectarian worship of Siva and Visnu. But no sharp line need be drawn
between the beliefs of the Saiva and the Vaisnava sectarians. While Siva, the
God of destruction and reproduction, is associated with many practices, at
once grotesque and repellent, the faith of the worshippers of Visnu is more
human, impersonating the ‘higher evolution \ the upward tendency of the
human spirit. It is included in its pantheon, the forms of national heroes
who live among men and furnish an ideal of manliness, beauty, and the
delights of love. Visnu occasionally revisits the earth in human or
animal form by a succession of ‘A uatdrfls’ or incarnations. This theory of
successive divine embodiments is one of the most effective doctrines of the
later Hinduism. In it, the eclecticism and adaptability of the faith are most
fully realised. In the animal incarnations, we may see either an indication
of the absorption of totemistic or beast-gods of the lower races or, from the
esoteric point of view, the pantheistic idea of the divine spirit immanent in
all the four forms of creation.

The foundations of the Vaisnava beliefs were laid in the Visnu Purdna
of the 6th Century A. D. But in it is described one God, the god of the
Brahmins, and the writer has not dreamt of t}ie message of salvation being
extended to the lower classes. The popularisation of the creeds was the work
of a line of reformers of whom the first w^as Ramanuja of the 12th Century.
In the case of Vaisnaism, as with Saivism, the inspiration for reform came
from the South, Ramanuja, in opposition to Sankara, maintained that there
is only one Supreme Spirit; and the individual beings are separate Spirits,
while the universe is non-Spirit. His great reform in field of religion was
that he regarded God as having real attributes. With this pivotal change
from the need of an impersonal to a personal god, arose the necessity of self-
surrender and devotion to gods, as contrasted with the philosophical realisa-
tion of the oneness of God with the soul of man and with the universe. His
philosophy has been called ‘qualified non-dualism’ — ‘ Visistadvaita’ — and he
declared Bhakti to be the most suitable means to achieve salvation.

Madhva, of the 13th Century, started with the distinction between the
Supreme Spirit and the Lesser Spirit and held the phenomenal world to be

THE RELIGIOUS FACTORS : REUGIOUS INSTITUTIONS

213

real and eternal. His ^Dvaita^ hypothesis repudiated the monism of Saiikara
and the modified dualism of Ramanuja. According to him, God is personal;
for he is not a mere lifeless abstraction; the world is real; and for the wise
and good, Ruler is a reality.

Madhva was the first to utilize the Bhagavata Purana, written some-
where between 8th Century A.D. as the basis of his preachings of Bhakti.
Bhakti in his work is surging emotion which chokes the speech, makes the
tears flow and the hair thrill with pleasurable excitement and often leads to
certain fainting fits and to long trances of unconsciousness. This happens
when passionate Bhakti has been aroused which leads to self-consecration
to Krsna and life-long devotion to his service, which speedily leads to re-
lease. Such devotion is produced by concentrating on the images of Krsna,
singing His praises, remembering Him in meditation, keeping company with
His devotees, touching their bodies, serving them lovingly, hearing them tell
the mighty deeds of Krsna, and talking with them about His glory and His
love. The utter self-abandonment of Gopi’s love for Krsna is held out as a
symbol of spiritual devotion. Meditation on the scenes of Krsna-lila is
expected to produce that passionate Bhakti which is regarded as the highest
religious experience. This leading religious idea of the Bhagavata lies at
the foundation of the whole series of Sects which sprang from it.

But Radha had not yet been exalted in the worship of Madhva sect,
though it exalted Bhakti to Krsna.*’ The Visnu-swami sect, which arose
next, exalted Radha as the chief of the Gopis and worshipped her along
with Krsna. But it was Nirhbarka who made the worship of Radha-Krsna
exclusive in his sect, and made Radha the eternal consort of Krsna who
became incarnate with him in the Vrndavana scenes. Early in the 16th
century arose the Vallabhacarya sect which largely absorbed the Visnu-
swami sect; Vallabha was much nearer Sankara's Monism than the other
sects. The wor.ship of Balagopala — the Child Krsna — was typified and exalted,
glorifying the Vrndavana sports of Krsna.

It is really worth investigating into how religious preachers from out-
side of Gujarat cameb and received a hearing from the Gujarati Hindu.s
and were ultimately converted to their sects. Vallabha. the founder of

17. The name of Radha is mentioned neither in Mahdbhdrata nor the Harivamsa, It
occurs in Vi^nu and Padvia Pwrdnas,but it is nowhere mentioned in the Bhdga-
vata. But the cult associated with Radha is not a creation of a much later
period. Mention of Radha can be traced in literary works as early as the 5th
century A. D. and in the sculpture of and Radha, where behind the

heads of both are shown two haloes. It is a clear indication that the K^^pa*
RadhS cult must have sprung before the 5th century A.D.— Dr. D,R. Bhfii^dfirkar :
‘'The Antiquity of the name of BadhS”, Va$ant CQmmfrnQfdiion Volume (1928),

214

CULTUBAL mSTOBT Or GUJABAT

'Pu^ti Sampradaya’ of the Vaifnavite school, in the last quarter of the 16 th
Century of the Vikrama era, had visited many cities in Gujarat, while he
was on his all-India tour, spreading his doctrines of Vaispavism. One thing
that distinguished him from other Acaryas— preachers — ^was that, unlike
Sankara, Ramanuja, Madhva, Caitanya and a host of others, he preferred to
follow the Aupani^adic traditions, and like Yajhavalkya and others, became
a Gfhastha Acarya.

This fact explains the ready response given by the majority of con-
verts to this sect from Gujarat, who could get an ideal of a householder
devotee — one who could carry on his worldly affairs, and at the same time
could remain away from them in their hours of secret communion. There
was no need of renouncing the world in order to secure salvation. This
comparatively highly attractive element in the doctrines and the model of
actual life of their preceptors naturally appealed to the mercantile communi-
ties of Gujarat. It was however Vitthalesvara who carried on his mission
in Gujarat by visiting it for as many as six times from the North.

Vallabhacarya has an immense following in and outside Gujarat.
Many of the rich Bhatia, Luhana, Bania, and Marwadi merchants acknow-
ledge him and his descendants as their religious head. His immediate des-
cendants were very learned and holy men, and were able to impress the
rulers of the land with the exalted ideal of their religious tenets. One of them
was Vitthalesvara, the second son of Sri Vallabhacarya, who had impress-
ed Emperor Akbar with his learning and piety. He conferred upon him a
number of favours; one of them being the title of ‘ Goswami he seems to
have refused nothing to him. His successors — from Shah Jahan right upto
Shah Alam — continued to show the same kind of favour to his descendants
and were anxious to redress their slightest grievance.

Not only the Emperor Akbar but his august mother Hamidah Banu
Begum also was impressed with his godliness and piety, and he secured a
rare honour of the expression of his regard in a Farman gratited by her,
confirming her son’s behest and opinion. It is a unique honour. There are
hardly any instances of grants made by Mughal Emperors being confirmed
or ratified by their mothers. The Firmans in Persian (collected and edited
by Divan Bahadur K. M. Jhaverl) go to tlw time of Muralidhara, the eldest
son of Giridhara, the eldest son of Vitthalesvara, covering a period of about
two hundred years : but they all breathe the spirit of reverence for the
Goswamis and tolerance for their tenets and observance of those tenets.

Akbar, as he learnt from Jainism and Zoroastrianism, was also at one
time a follower of Hindu religion; and no wonder, he respected the Vai^tiava
Mab&r jijas and conferred lands on them. He assumed all the visible signs

THE REUGIOOS TACTOKS : RELIGIOUS INSTITUTIOMS

235

of that religion. He became a vegetarian, and even put the Hindu ‘Ulaka*
mark on his forehead, and went out in public with that mark, and with the
Hindu thread, Rakhi, on his body. The Emperor who took delight in discus-
sions relating to the world beyond, had invited VitthaleSvara to explain to
him the nature of the Supreme Being. Being pleased with his exposition,
Akbar bestowed upon him the village of Gokula as a gift by a Boyal Farmfin,
addressed to his officers to allow him to live in peace at Gokula and not to
harass him by demanding any thing such as taxes etc. from him, his
relatives, or retainers. Later Farmans confirmed the grant of GokfUa as an
absolute Inam, transferrable and heritable.

It speaks volumes for the tolerant spirit of the Mughal Emperors that
not Akbar alone, but his successors raised no difficulties in the ways of the
Goswami Maharaja and his descendants enjoying their heritage, and that too
with full knowledge of the fact that the income of Gokula, of the river-ferry,
and of Jatipura was being utilised for the upkeep of an Idol and its temple
(Tliakordvara). Still they went on renewing their behests and confirming
the grants. These grants that are preserved for the posterity serve to demon-
strate that the earlier successors of the founder of the Sampradaya were
worthy of all that was bestowed on them, on account of their deep religious
knowledge, wide scholarship, undoubted piety and social loyalty to the
throne.'*

In Gujarat Vitthalnathji’s activities were chiefly confined to Ahmeda-
bad, Cambay and Godhra. In Godhra, one Nagaj! Bhatt, a State officer and a
Nagar Brahmin, was initiated in the Sampradaya by him, who ever after-
wards actively helped him in his mission. The gist of the Sectarian philosophy,
as a reply to his query, was given by Vitthalnathji : “ According to the view
of Vallabhacarya the appearance of the Lord is the fruit; and the unfailing
remedy for it is love for him, while all other SadhanSs are useful in generat-
ing this love. ” Nagaji Bhatt, who was fully initiated to the practice and
theory of the Sampradaya, was instrumental in the rapid spread of the sect,
from Samvat 1600 onwards in Gujarat.

Another felloe who helped him in the mission was Bhaila Kothari of
Asarva near Ahmedabad, at whose place Vitthalesvara used to put up when
he visited Dwarka or Gujarat. Bhaila’s son-in-law Gopaladasa has given a
charming composition called ‘ Vallahhdkhyana ’ or ‘ Navdkhydna ’ in classical
Gujarati,’" which speaks of Vitthalesvara as ‘ Goswami which surname was

18. Vide "Introduction" to the "Critical Edition of Mughal Farmans" by D. B,
X.M. JhaverL

10. Vide Brhttt KHvya Pohana, Part VIII, pages beginning with

216

CULTURAL HISTORY OF GUJARAT

assumed in Saihvat 1634 (1578 A. D.), after he was granted permission by
Emperor Akbar to graze his cattle on all lands including the Royal ones, and
describes the full family of Vitthalesvara, of seven sons and three wives,
which fixes the date of the poem to about the end of the fourth decade of
the 17th century of Vikram era. The poem has been the most popular and
revered among Vaisnavas. Every Vaisnava, male and female, recites it even
today. Commentaries in Sanskrt and Vraja Bhasa are written on it. The
commercial people of Gujarat have been fascinated by it. In Cambay, Jiva
Parekh, a celebrated Bania merchant, was instrumental in the early spread
of this Vaisnavism. On the whole, through the willing cooperation of Vais-
navas like Bhaila Kothari and Jiva Parekh, the spread was not only rapid
but complete.

Vitthalesvara visited Gujarat not less than six times, the first visit
being in Saihvat 1600, the last one from Gukula in Samvat 1639. Thus for
nearly forty years he exercised his personal influence over Gujarat and
Saurastra. The visits to Gujarat were incidental to his visit to the Shrine
of Dwarkanathji at Dwarka. His desire and interest in both the provinces
were engendered by the warm reception of his father and his elder brother
Sri Gopinatha. Rana Vyasa, a learned pupil of Vallabhacarya, was an
active worker at Siddhpur, the fourth centre of Vaisnava mission in Gujarat.
So also there was one Gopaldas of Naroda, a Vaisya by caste. The Swarupa
of Dwarkanathji at Beyt-Dwarka was installed there by Vallabhacarya,
during his three visits to the place, in about 1585 Samvat. This is the ear-
liest Vaisnava temple of this sect in Gujarat.

To show that religion has a social origin, and is primarily designed
to suit the religious needs of the masses, we would mention that when
in Samvat 1616 Vitthalesvara visited the Shrine of Jagannath in Puri
(Orissa) he witnessed the Rathotsava (car-festival) and .seeing it, asked his
carpenter who was in his escort to prepare a similar model of the same.
After he returned to Adel, his place of residence, he took his deity round the
village in a procession in that model car, and continued to celebrate a Rathot-
sava every year. But when he shifted his abode to Mathura in 1619, due to
Mahomedan raids, he had to give up the public celebration of Rathotsava
on account of Mahomedan fanaticism.

At Jagannathjl, Vitthalesvara came in contact with the immediate
followers of Caitanya, and was led to compose ^Swdminl-sloka* in which
the Eternal consort — Radha — of Sri Krsna was extolled. It is thus how

^ ^

wfm

THE REUCIOUS FACTORS : RELIGIOUS INSTITUTIONS

217

preachers are influenced by their contemporaries who in their turn mould
the popular religious thought of their times. Vitthalanathjl used to go on
horseback from Gokula to Govardhana daily, to look after the worship of the
deities.® He turned his father’s teachings into actual practice and evolved a
divine religion. Vallabhacarya has mentioned two alternative.*; for realising
God : “ the first alternative of Tyaga (complete renunciation) could not he
put into practice, by every one; hence was accepted the second alternative
of A-tydga, by which every thing was to be utilized for Krsna, whereby the
ultimate goal was to be gradually reached. With this end in view, he pro-
mulgated an elaborate mode of rituals for the Sevd-Mdrga (service) , based
purely on the dictates of the finer sentiments of the heart. As a result, the
very household of the Vaisnava became free from the experiences of the
miserable surroundings of the worldly life.

Gopinatha’s visit to Gujarat had brought him about a lakh of
rupees as ‘Seva’ (religious endowment), which was dedicated for the
upkeep of Srinathji. Vitthalesvara’s frequent visits to Gujarat had attract-
ed rich people to visit the Shrine of Srinalhji in Meva^, and they made
rich presents to the deity. The initiation ceremony of the Vaisnavas was
done by a very .simple formula, viz., “Krsna, I am thine’’; but for practical
purposes, some solemn declaration was necessary and hence an explanation
was incorporated in the ‘Gadya’ (prose) formula.

Vitthalesvara contributed much to the development of the aesthetics
in the modes of worship — Sevd-prakara. All the fine arts were requisitioned
in the performance of daily worship. The VaLsnava cult refined and spiritu-
alised the hedonistic elements in the materialistic system, called ‘Carvaka’
or ‘Lokayata’, and combined joy in life with purity and spiritual devotion
to God. He knew both the theory and practice of Indian Music, and some
of the most charming songs were composed by him to be sung before the
deity. The music to be sung before the deity was in conformity with each
season, and with the changing of hours. The deity-worship changed according
to seasons. Everything was so arranged that if one entered a Pustimargiya
temple during winter, the moment he was within the precincts of it, he would
least feel the unpleasantness of winter cold. Similarly during Summer one
was made to forget that it was Summer. The richest dainties, that were
daily offered to the deity, also varied according to time and season. Thus

20, Gopaladasa refers to this incident as under . —

“ i ”

21. “55 mfm trfe i

218

CULTORAL HISTORY OF GUJARAT

the science of cooking was given an impetus, to worship the deity with best
varieties of food. The ' Asta Chapa ’ is the name given to a gallaxy of eight
.devotee poets of Vrajabha^a whose songs only were permitted to be sung
before the idol, the most noted of them being Suradasa. This group included
one Caturbhujadasa, a Patidar hailing from Carotara in Central Gujarat —
an unique honour for a Gujarat! Vaispava !

Painting too was a favourite pastime, utilized for the same higher
purpose. On Utsava-days beautiful Aratis (shallow plates wherein lights
are placed for swinging them round the deity) were drawn; and they were
filled with pearls and were decorated with harmonious blending of colours,
which exhibited considerable amount of accurate drawing. During the
Vasanta (Spring) season, beautiful prints both in dried and wet colours
were utilized in the background curtains (Pichavais) etc. of the deity-worship.
Similarly beautiful ‘ sand-pictures’ ^ ^) were drawn with the

choicest colours, depicting the various sports of Krsna. Choicest flowers,
such as rose. Jasmine, Bakula, Kadaihba, Lotus, etc., were utilized in prepar-
ing the garlands to be offered daily to the deity. During summer, flower-
houses (phulaman^li) were organised in such a way that flowers were
knit and strung together in the most artistic way. In short, the finest arts
which were developed during the Akbar period were all availed of in the.
daily worship of Kjrsna.

Vitthalesvara’s field of activities lay chiefly in Gujarat and Saurastra
The people of these countries were by instinct commercial, who could not be
made to take interest in abstruse problems of philosophy. For them, Vitthale-
svara organised troupes of amateurs who would give life-like representations
of the various sports of Krsna. These ‘ Rasajiharis’, the itinerant troupes,
started acting the various episodes of the Radha-Krsna sports in temples and
the countryside, with the result that the Krsna-Seva creed spread with
marvellous zeal and rapidity.

In fact, every thing that belonged to anyone was to be dedicated to
Kr§na by its tenets of Atmasamarpana or Atmanivedana. There was no
actual parting with the thing, but there was ingrained remembrance that
every thing that belonged to one. was not for his own self but for God, a
doctrine by which the daily life of Vaisnavas turned their ‘Ahaihta’ and
‘ Mamata’ from Samsara towards God. This doctrine achieved a solution
for salvation by the simple and sure remedy of worship of Krsna, in which
every member of the family could take part and all their belongings could
be best utilized.

Thus VitthaleSvara made Vai^^avism a living religion among the
masses of Gujarit It may be noted, however, that all the paraphernalia of

THE ItELlOIOXnS FACTORS : RELIGIOUS INSTITUTIONS

219

the Seva, with the deity’s special grace — ‘ Anugraha’— was also called
‘Pttjfi’; and intense love was a thing never approved of, nor preached by
Vifthale^ara. Poet Dayaram’s invective against the shams and hyprdcri-
sies of the Seva-formalisms without the true spirit or Bhdva is well-known
through poems like: “ Jig SRi5r ^ igtj; ? ”

Swaminarayana, the Vaisnava reformer of the later 18th Century in
Gujarat, has preached his followers in his Set>dprakara JSiksdpatri to follow
whole-heartedly the mode of worship of the Pu^ti SampradSya, so as to
develop the finer sentiments of the human heart. Experience proved that,
by following it, the devotees not only did forget the bonds of Saihsira but it
helped them in feeling the living presence of the deity.”

The prevalence of Visnu-Bhakti in Gujarat can be traced to earlier
times. An inscription from Palanpur in Saranga Deva Vaghela’s reign,
dated Saihvat 1348, mentions a gift made for the worship and offerings to
the feet of Sri Kri^na ( gftgw iqf gjgt The introductory

verse of ‘Dasavatara Stuti’ in this inscription from Citagovinda (‘Sargal’)
composed in Bengal in 1250 A. D., is a strong proof of Sri Krspa cult in
Gujarat. There is a folio from the MSS. of '•Visnu-bhakti-candrodaya’
noticed in the ‘ Bhdvnagar Inscriptions ’ dated S. V. 1649, which is prior to
either Caitanya or Vallabha. Many other inscriptions and sculptures are
also noticed.”

The cult of Visnu existed since the 10th Century as observed by Dr.
Burgees from the remains of a temple of Visnu near Modhera,” which mani-
fested itself upto the 15th Century in many channels rather unobserved. It
spread throughout the country due to the readings of the Bhdgavata Purdna
and the Citagovinda and the padas of Narsiihha Mehta. However Vaisnavism
had not evolved as a sect upto this time. It was left for Vallabhacarya to
make it a popular and the all-absorbing religion of the Gujaratis, with a
practical code of Sevd-prakdra, wherein other cults were absorbed.

Some look upon this new Vaisnavism as Jainism tacked on to the old
worship of Sri Krsn§, as Christianity may be described as ‘ Buddhism tacked
on to Judaism ’. Buddhism was dead and Buddha had been changed into an
Avatdra of Vi?nu and Buddhists had turned generally into Vaisnavas. Natu-
rally the respect for Ahiihsa came back with the force of a returning tide;

22. Vide the illuminating Life-skelch oj ViUhalesvara by the late Mulacandra
TeliwalS, B. A., LL. B., meant to be an introduction to his edition of Vidvan-
maifdiiV^ (published posthumously in the issues of 'duddhidvalta' Monthly).

23. DurgUahkar Shfistrl, History of Vaifttavism (1947).

24. Arehasotogfeal Survey of India, Vol. XXXII, page 105.

220

CULTURAL HISTORY OF GUJARAT

and Vai^navism took up Ahiihsa as it had never done before. By doing so
it succeeded in disarming the Jaina attacks and thus succeeded in appealing
to the common people. Though J 2 unism and Vai^navism were at one on the
doctrine of Ahiihsa, they unfortunately differed most strongly on the ques-
tion of asceticism. The Hindu world swung alternatively between asceticism
and epicurianism, the philosophy of self-mortification and that of self-indul-
gence. Sri Kriisna's life practically preached the doctrine of the enjoyment
of world’s blessings, though he always preached the value of the golden mean.
His worship however soon drifted into epicurianism which appeared in Ben-
gal and in middle and western India during the 16th and 17th Centuries,
and soon became popular. While, therefore, the new Vaisnavism taught
Ahiihsa like Jainism, unlike Jainism it taught the enjoyment of the worldly
blessings. The swing went naturally to the other extreme point like a pen-
dulum, and licentiousness became the leading feature of this neo-Vaisnavism.

After the powerful and holy successors of Vallabha ceased to command
personal respect, the Vaisnava laymen degenerated in the practice of their
religion and the word ‘ Pusti * became a synonym for becoming * fat ’ by
indulging in all the luxuries of the world. The sect began to experience a
natural decay due to the perverse opinion about the godlike sanctity of their
Gurus. The ‘ Samarpan! ’, i. e., one who has dedicated his self and all his
belongings at the feet of Sri Krsna being initiated by them, began to look
upon these Gurus as their spiritual as well as temporal lords, perhaps influ-
enced by the highly eulogistic poem of Gopaladas. Hence devotion degenerat-
ed to debauchery and the purely spiritual interpretation of Kri^nalila came
to be understood as erotic flirtations of worldly character.'* Akho is equally
hard and out-spoken about them, from his personal knowledge. The physical
side of the religion, namely to enjoy feasts of prasada and then sing at leisure
was the normal routine of these debased 'Vaisnavas.” Krsnaram has also to
add to such scathing criticism of the sect and its follower.?."

25. Samalbhatt :

26. Akho :

27. Kri$9&r&m :

« 1^01^ efi^, fifig ?.iJT.

#55 ^ 5ig HW,

trsTiR ”

5tR, 6^ urar ^*1.

^ ”

« ^(1 wwr,

THE RELIGIOUS FACTORS : RELIGIOUS INSTITUTIONS 221

The epicurian principles of the Vallabha sect led to the reform of the
Vaii^nava church early in the 19th century by Sahajananda Swami, a man of
deep religious feelings and high morality, whose sect known as the * Swami-
Narayana' is at present of great importance in Gujarat. He preached
chastity and purity of soul as a keynote of religion. By his preaching and
his own exemplary life he succeeded in making many converts, chiefly among
the lower classes. The book which is usually read by the followers of the
sect in their daily prayers is called ^SiksdpatrV or 'Book of Precepts',
embodying practical ethics. It prohibits the destruction of animal life, pro-
miscuous intercourse with the other sex, use of animal food and intoxicating
drinks and drugs, theft and robbery, blasphemy, false accusation and caste
pollution.

Sahajananda, an ascetic in life and a fierce denouncer of immorality,
especially among the priesthood, made many enemies, and for a time was
subjected to persecution. Accepting the ordinary Hindu theology and up-
holding the worship of Krsna, Sahajanand contented himself with trying to
mend men’s ways by preaching morality and holy living. Among the dis-
orderly classes of Saurastra he denounced riot and robbery and among the
rich traders of Ahmedabad and Kaira, luxury and debauchery. For his
followers he laid down rules for a life of almost ascetic rigour and self-
denial. Sahajananda replaced the worship of Radha and Krsna by the wor-
ship of Laksmi and Narayana or Rukmini and Krsna, just to purge the
worship of the unwarranted flirtations of an unmarried damsel with Krsna.
There were notable poets, dedicated to this sect, who have given good
religious, moral and devotional poetry, — Brahmananda, Premananda, Mukta-
nanda, etc., to mention the topmost among them.

VL Cult of Mother-worship

The theory of God and His Sakti has been foreshadowed in the Vedas,
in the conjoint worship of Heaven and Earth (dydvdprthivyau) . In the
later Saiva mythology this conception finds its artistic representation in Siva’s
form of Ardha-nari^ara, testifying the union of the male and the female
spirit. The symbolism of Ardha-narlsvara was taken to explain the two
main divisions of the gakti cult, the ^daksina mdrga ’ (the right-hand sect)
and the ^vdma mdrga'^ (the left-hand sect). In the ordinary right-hand
worship by the Smartas (the larger section of the orthodox twice-born) in
their houses, especially during Navaratra festival, the Goddess is represent-
ed by a ' Yantra ' or by a garlanded ‘ gfcata, ’ and the ritual includes the
five-fold ‘pfijd’ and the presentation of vegetable offerings. The Lamp-tree
(Sanskpt Prakyt Gujarati qf^) lighted at night and carried in

222

COtTURAL HISTOSV OF GUJARAT

the streets in a procession, accompanied with Garaba dance by both the sexes,
is another symbol of popular worship of the Goddess in Gujarat. But the
most important part of the service is the recitation of the Cai^dl the
Dimga episode, preceded and followed by other sacred texts : the Kavoca,
Argala etc., drawn from the Markandeya and Varaha Purapas.

In the development of theistic and devotional Hinduism, the feminine
powers (comprising types of beneficent powers of fecundity and prosperity,
as well as malevolent demons) could be and gradually were, incorporated
into a consistent theological scheme as manifestations of one Goddess,
who is either Herself the Supreme Power (energy) or the Power inherent
in a male deity. As power, the goddess is called ‘ Sakti ’ and her manifold
forms ‘ Saktis ’. Along with the worship of ‘ Sakti * in many forms, either
beneficent or terrible, the Saktas have developed an elaborate hierarchy of
feminine figures — ^the Mahavidyas, Mahamataras, Yoginis, etc. The advocacy
of the female principle has afforded an easy means for absorbing many
aboriginal beliefs into the fringe of Hinduism.

Under the influence of the gradually developing phases of popular
Vaiisnavism, the cult of Siva and Sakti was greatly modified; and it resulted
in the right-hand worship of the Mother Goddess, with identical rites and
ceremonies. True Saktas are, however, not at all numerous in Gujarat.
While locating the cult of Sakti over the different provinces in India, the
Sakta Pandits are fond of reciting the following couplet" :

“ sRSlfecIT ^ 1

»raT 11 ”

“The cult was proclaimed in Gauda, and was developed by the
Maithils; it is only occasionally met with in Maharastra, but has completely
disappeared in Gujarat.’’

The earliest passage regarding the worship of the goddess Durga,
occurs in the Mahabharata wherein is celebrated the threefold aspect of her
form, representing the triple qualities of the Trinity. Two hymns in the
Harivamsa, and the episode in the Markandeya Purina, known as the Devi
Mdhdtmya,* show a still further advance. '

28. A kindred verse occurs in the Bhdgavata Mdhatmya from Padma PuraijA, with
reference to the prevalence of Bhakti, where Bhakti personified declares as
under

“ ami i

II ’’

29. The text is variously known as 'Devi Bhagavati Mahatmya’ or ‘DeviMaha-
tmya,' 'Durgi Pitha’, ‘ Capdi-Patha ' or shortly ‘Capd>’ and also 'SaptaSati’
(comprising of 700 verses).

tRX RIUQIOUS fACTOBS : BEUCIOOS mStlTtmONS

223

The Harivamia probably dates from the 4th century, and the Cartd^'
Mahatmy&, almost certainly from the 6th century at the latest; for it forms
the chief background of Bapa’s Cart^USatdka, an ode to Capdi iu a
hundred verses, which was written at the court of Emperor Har^avardhana
early in the 7th century.

The Cai}^i~Mdhatmya, though concerned with the exploits of the
goddess Candl, curiously enough, does not form a part of the Paurapic texts
sacred to the Sakta sect, namely the Devi Bhagavata, and the Kalikd Purdna,
which are taken as Upa-purdnas. This fact clearly testifies to the non-
sectarian nature of the Candi-Mdhdtmya, which comprises of 13 Adhyayas
(Adh. 78 to 90 in the Mdrkandeya Purdna). The same episode is, however,
fotmd expanded to 35 Adhyayas in the Fifth Skandha of the Devi Bhagavata.

It is the non-sectarian character of the contents of the Durgd Mdhdt-
mya that has led to the prevalence and popularity of the theme, which is a
panegyric to the glories of Sakti — the mother, protector, and the benefactor
of the human race. Love, in its various spiritual forms, thus permeates the
cult of Kali-Durga in Gujarat, where she has lost most of her terrible phases
and has become the Sweet Mother of the Universe, Bhadra-kalL

The Durgd Devi Mdhdtmya describes in great detail the furious fights
in which the goddess destroyed certain demons who were threatening the
gods. Here her limitless power and her terrific appearance find forcible,
even ghastly, expression. She devours unnumbered foes and drinks their
blood. It also deals with the exploits of the goddess Candl, who killed the
buffalo-demon Mahisasura emanated as she was as the spirit of light from
Brahma, Visnu and the minor deities, who had contributed to the formation
of the Mahadevi’s limbs, as well as her ornaments and weapons.

The story runs that there was a king by the name of Suratha of the
line of Caitra, who was driven away from his kingdom by powerful enemies
and treacherous friends and who rode alone on horse-back to a dense jungle
knowing not what to do. There he met a Vaisya by the name of Samadhi,

who had been robbed by greedy sons and a selfish wife. Both Suratha and

Samadhi sought the Hermitage of the saint Medhas for the solution of their
troubles and the attainment of mental peace. The saint narrates the exploits
of the goddess by whose grace both of them got the desired boon.

The earliest literary reference to the Devi Mdhdtmya episode in
Gujarat is the poem Surathotsava” by Somesvaradeva. the author of the
historical panegyric Kirti-kaumudi, a Nagar Brahmin from Vadnagar, who
was honoured as Gurjareswara Purohita during the reigns of two Solanki

30. Published in the Kdvyd Maid series.

224

CULTURAL HISTORY OF GUJARAT

sovereigns, Bhimadeva and Visaladeva in the 13th century A, D. It is a
Sanskrt poem of 15 cantos in the style of a Mahakavya, woven round the in*
cident of king Suratha’s banishment, who ultimately recovered his kingdom
through the boon of the Devi, whose mdhatmya he heard, and by his
devotion appeased her.

A passing reference to the religious history of Gujarat, suggests that
when the people of Gujarat followed either the Sakti-worship or animism,
the ‘ Garaba ’ was the popular folk-dance. Later on with the development
of the ‘rasa ’ or cow-herd dance (evolved from the ‘ halUsaka ’ and the 'lasya^
of the treatises on Music), Vaisnavism came to be preached in Gujarat; and
as a result, the Sakta and animistic beliefs were artistically blended together
evolving a novel form of secular dance.

The indigenous drama of Gujarat, ‘ Bhavai ’ (may be from ‘ bhava ' — ^the
name of the ‘ sutradhara *, or ‘ Bhavani \ the goddess) as it is popularly called,
is originally associated with dramatic performances of the glorious deeds of
the goddess Amba. These are always acted for the whole night of the vigil
before the sacred image, even by some of the highest of the Brahmins of
Gujarat. Owing to the gradual decay of religious inspiration’‘\ however,
these performances have, through the march of time, led to the growth of a
secular element, based on realistic farce and contemporary satire.

The growth of such entertainments appears to be clearly in accordance
with the text of the Mdhdimya, where it is said that the Gandharvas
performed ‘ lalita ’-.shows to celebrate the victory of goddess Mahakali over
the demon Surhbha. In the Maratha country, on such occasions the
‘gondhala’ dance is performed in honour of Amba Bhavani, in connection
with which songs are sung in praise of the goildess, admitting of some com-
parison with the Gujarati ‘ garabas

Sakta feeling expressed itself in vernacular in Gujarat in the transla-
tion of the Candi episode of Sridhara in 120 stanzas of Dihgal Gujarati,
styled * Devi kaviild ’ (in early 15th century) which is prior to the Sapta
Sail by Bhalana who rendered Bana’s Kddamhari in Gujarati verse in about
1500 A. D, Premananda rendered it in ‘desi’ tunes as a portion of the
whole of the Mdrkandeya Purdna in Sariivat 1765 (1709 A. D.). Vallabha-
bhatta, a contemporary of Premananda, and Ranachodaji Diwan, the author
of ‘ Tarikh-i-Soratha ’ have told the story in as many ‘garabas’ (popular

31. The following titles of popular religious scenes (Vesas) acted during Bhavai
are restored from oral tradition: (1) Ardha-narisvara, (2) Kalika, (3) Vamana-
svarupa, (4) Caturbhuja, (5) Rama-Lak§mapa, (6) Kahana-gopi, and (7)
Gorakha-madhi.

THE RELIGIOUS FACTORS : RELIGIOUS INSTITUTIONS

225

jSSkta-songs sung by companies of men and women) , as there are Adhyay as
in the original Sanskrt text. A few poets like Mithu from a village on the
banks of the Mahi river, and Natha Bhavana of Junagadh, tended to write
more along lines of Sakta teachings, inclined towards ritual meditation than
towards devotion and service.

Gujarat claims to have three of the prominent Siddha-pithas of Sakti
— that of Arhbika at Arasura near Mt. Abu, of Kalika on Pavagadha Hill, and
of Bala Bahucara on the high plains of North Gujarat. Asapura, Varahi,
Sindhavai, and Khodiara are other popular goddesses in popular worship.

An historic incident, illustrating how Ambika's grace was showered on
one Gujarati merchant is recorded both in literature, as well as in painting"“^.
The incident forms a stock illustration testifying to the efficacy of “ kavaca *
prayers to the goddess as referred to in the following sloka: “Whoever on
high seas has his ship caught in a whirlwind storm, by remembering my
glories described in the (Devlmahdimya) text, will soon get relieved.*’ (Adh.

12, SI. 28).

One Akherama (Saiiivat 1750-1800), a Nagar Vaisya hailing from
Visanagar (N. Gujarat), was carrying on immense trade with China in opium
from Malwa, and had a firm at Mandsor. While on return voyage from China,
with valuable treasure, he and his ships were caught in a terrible storm. At
this juncture Akherama ardently prayed to Moiher goddess (Arhbika) for
help, and staked half of his treasure to be presented to the goddess
on rescue. It is said, his prayer :

“ Rescue, O ! Rescue my sinking ships, O Mother- !
and bring us on, O Mother, to the shore ! '*

was heard; and goddess Arhbika, with a slight touch of her ‘tri-5jula’ dragged
out from the storm the devotee and his cargo, which were in peril. It is re-
ported that the ends of the ‘ tri-sula" were consequently found bent in the
temple at Arasura (Abu). The firm of Akherama Jhaveri at Mandsor, called
‘ Ba^a Parekhjiwala ’ is still well-known for its devotion towards Arhbika,
who is described in teits as the refuge of all sufferers and all who are pursu-
ed by enemies, internal and external.

The efficacy of the text as a pacifying remedy — a ‘ santi-upacara ’ — is
also recognised in an early 16th century Old Gujarati poem. In order to
relieve the uneasiness caused in the mind pf Kamakandala at her separa-

32. A photograph of the original painting 200 years old, at Mandsor (C. I.) was
published for the first time in the Bombay Samdchdr (Gujarati), Weekly
edition for 2nd December, 1934.

15

226

CULTURAL HISTORY OF GUJARAT

tion from Madhava, various remedies were tried and the recitals of Durga*
patha were also resorted to”

The Jainas are not averse to Sakti worship; however, they do not
allow Sakti the place of principal reverence as creative energy of the world.
The conception and imagery of the sixteen Sruta Devatas and the Yaksinis
of the Tirthankaras, disclose points of identity in respect of names, attri*
butes, etc. with those of the Navadurgas mentioned in the Devi-mahatmya.
Sarasvati or Sruta dcvl of the Syctambaras riding the swan, with four
hands, bearing a lotus, vlna (or varada), book and rosary, resembles Brah-
mani of the Hindu pantheon. The Manavl of the Jainas, who sits on a twig
or on a blue lotus and is of deep green colour, resembles the Sakambhari of
the Devimahatmya. Other comparisons with Aindri, Varahi, Kaumari,
KMi and Mahesvarl are omitted for want of space.

The most prolific source of materials for the Western Indian school of
miniature-painting, outside the Jaina environment, is the group of illustrat-
ed paper MSS. depicting the episodes from the Devl-Mdhatmya. These
episodes and the occasional panegyrics to the Glory of the Goddess refer to
the controlling of brute-force by the Soul-force of the kindest yet the cruel-
lest of women, the Mahadevi, which is the Supreme Power. The real ‘Devi-
Yuddha’ is the destruction of egotism, pride and self-seeking by the power
of the Goddess, that is in us and acts through us. The study of the text and
the paintings of the Dein-MdhdUnya is, therefore, believed to lead to this
ideal, if properly understood,"^

VII. Religion of the Masses

To what was probably its original forpi — a Nature Worship in a large
degree as introduced by Aryan missionaries — has been added an enormous
amount of demonolatry, fetishism and kindred forms of primitive religion,
much of which has been adopted from races which it is convenient to des-
cribe as ^ aboriginal This power of assimilation in the domain of religion
had its advantages as well as dangers. While on the one hand it ended to
promote the unity of Hindu society, it degraded op the other hand the
national character by the introduction of impure cults which then already
existed as a substratum of local beliefs. *

Upto this point we have dealt with the historical, literary, and what
may be termed the official development of Hinduism. But below the upper

33. Vide my edition of Mddhavanala Kdmakandald Prahandha in OJd Gujarati
(Saihvat 1574), published in the Baroda G. O. Series, Vol. I (No. 93) (1941):—

34. Vide, Journal of the Indian Society of Oriental Art : June-December, 1938
M. R. Majmudar.

THE RELIGIOUS FACTORS : RELIGIOUS INSTITUTIONS

227

crust of observances which Brahmanism, Buddhism and Jainism enforced,
there was a mass of more primitive beliefs which formed the real faith of
majority of the people. This jungle of diverse beliefs and cults has been
called ‘animism’ or ‘folk-lore*, by which is meant the belief which explains
primitive men the constant movements and changes in the world of things
by the theory that every object which has activity enough to affect him in
any way is animated by a ‘ Life ’ and ‘Will ’ like his own.

The leading features of animism as summarised by Risley are : “It
conceives of man as passing through life surrounded by a ghostly company
of powers, elements, tendencies, mostly impersonal in their character,
shapeless phantasms of which no image can be made and no definite idea
can be formed. Some of these have departments or spheres of influence of
their own. One presides over cholera, another over small-pox, another
over cattle-disease; some dwell in rocks, others haunt trees, others again are
associated with rivers, whirlpools and water-falls. All of them require to
be diligently propitiated by reason of the ills which proceed from them.’”'*

The poverty of the villager in Gujarat, his dependence on precarious
rainfall for his scanty supplies of foods, the risk of hail, draught and periodic
famine, tended to convince him that his very existence was menaced by
calamities beyond his control, and that disease and death were always
imminent. People in this lower stage of intellectual and economic culture,
were led to attribute calamities such as these to the wrath of some offended
deities, to the curse of some angry priest or ascetic, to the machinations
of the witch or the malignity of evil spirits. Thus their view of life was taint-
ed by pessimism, and, from their point of view, life was a constant struggle
against the mighty forces of Nature and their environment. Hence their reli-
gion was based on the feeling of awe in the presence of some unknown force.

A better class of a village in Gujarat plains usually possesses a shrine
dedicated to Visnu, Siva or one of the Mother Goddesses, Devi and her
sisters, built or endowed by the Village land-owner or money-lender, and
served by a Brahmin priest or a member of one of the ascetic orders. A
villager, being one of«the general strata of the masses of Gujarat, ceremoni-
ously bows before the shrine and makes an offering or he visits the temples
of the higher Gods when he goes on pilgrimage to some holy place; but his
real faith is placed in his village godlings, and at some crisis of his life, when
epidemic disea.se breaks out, when his crops wither in the draught, when his
wife craves the boon of a male child — it is from the godlings of his tribe,
caste or hamlet that he seeks relief.

35. Risley : Caste in India.

228

CULTURAL HISTORY OF GUJARAT

Codlings of Nature : Surya is revered as the source of light and heat
and dreaded as the cause of heat-stroke or fever. Sun-worship is said to
have come from Central Asia with Huna invaders of the fifth century, and
temples were erected in honour of the Sun at Bhinnamal as well as Mothers
at a later period. Sun-worship plays an important part in the religious life
of the orthodox Hindu who repeated his Gayatri : “Let us meditate on that
excellent glory of the divine Sun, the Giver of Life. May He enlighten our
understanding ! ” Unmarried girls in the hope of winning a good husband
and married women who long for a son, worship him.

Eclipses of the Sun and the Moon play an important part in the public
and family ritual, and there are many explanations to account for their
occurrences, which are taken as a crisis and a time of danger because demons
are abroad.

The Great Bear or the Saptarsi is taken as the emblem of permanence;
bride and bride-groom follow the ancient rite of worshipping him and using
this form of magic to secure the constancy of both in their married life.

Comets were also equally feared as they portend evil. A comet which
appeared in 1618 in the reign of Jahangir was said to have caused a terrible
outbreak of plague in Ahmedabad.

The cults of the Mother-Earth designated as Dharati, the upholder of
the human animal and vegetable life, which rests on the surface, are also
not unknown. The functions of the Mother-Earth are well-marked. Among
many castes at their weddings, it is the custom of women to fetch from the
village clay-pit the lucky earth. It is known as “Ukardi notarvi” in Gujarat.

Water is the prime source of fertility. In Indian art the reprsentations
of an elephant or elephants pouring >vater from the trunks on Laksmi,
Goddess of Prosperity, is found in Buddhistic as well as later art. Water is
often used in marriage rites.

The occurrence of floods is often assigned to the action of demons.
When a village is endangered by a flood thq headman makes an offering of
a coconut to the flood-demon, and adds a woman^s robe (cundadt) possibly
the survival ot the custom of human sacrifice. Coconut is a favourite
offering because from its shape it represents the head of a human victim.
So also when water could not be stored up in lakes, human sacri-
fices were offered to the supposed wronged water-deity. The Sahasra-
linga lake at Patan, the Sarmista Talao at Vadnagar and the Madha-Vava
at Wadhwan are connected by popular ballads with a willing sacrifice by

THE RELIGIOUS FACTORS : RELIGIOUS INSTITUTIONS

229

R husband and wife for the communal welfare of the town** Rain is th®
prime need of the Gujarat peasant and many methods are adopted to procure
it. In times of draught it is believed that Indra wishes to lay waste the
towns and villages, and accordingly the people desert the inhabited sites
and cook their food outside, as in a picnic.

The Village Codlings : The village in its primitive form was self-
contained and as a result of this isolation came the necessity for the demar-
cation and sanctification of the boundary which fixed the limits of settled
occupancy. The boundary rites naturally developed into the cult of a special
boundary-spirit. The bride-groom who is received near the boundary-line
of the marriage-bower (mandapa) by the mother-in-law has his feet washed
in order that he may not carry the evil with him !

One of the leading village Codlings is Ksetrapala, the field-
guardian.'^ Human sacrifice to worship these deities appear all through the
history of Hinduism. It was to a great extent a question of life-insurance
based on its primitive form of the theory of substitution, — a life for a life.
With the spread of Buddhism and Vaisnavism and the dawn of wider reli-
gious opinions, the blood-sacrifice tended to be commented. Samal Bhatt’s
version of ‘Vetala Pancavisr narrates the horrid tale of a heap of bones in
the secret chamber of a Siddha.

One form of human sacrifice, the foundation-sacrifice, had deeply
impressed the popular imagination. It was generally believed that one
condition of the permanence of a great building, or the embankment of a
reservoir, depended on the sacrifice of a human being, whose ghost becomes
the guardian-spirit of the structure. In former times, it seems to have been
the custom to select the foundation-victim from one of the menial castes.
According to Forbes, a scavenger Mayo was sacrificed in order that Sahasra-
linga could hold water.’"'

The village godlings came to be specialized and invested with separate
functions and became departmental deities. Among these none was more
prominent in a tropical climate where Malaria was endemic and epidemics

•

36. Compare songs like : ^‘4 Wr m etc*., and

from vfR 2, % v-.

37. The mock marriage of a girl whose suitable mate could not be found is sug-
gested in the proverb ‘ \

The exact belief in vogue, however, cannpt be traced.

38. Prof. K. H. Dhruva has doubted the authenticity of this episode.— 'Wotes on,
Cdlukya Varhsa” in Buddhi prakdsa, November 1927.

39. Cf, Prem&nand2i*s Suddma Carita:

230

CULTURAL HISTORY OF GUJARAT

were rife. The peasant was too ignorant to understand the necessity of
sanitation, too indifferent and suspicious to seek medical relief. Thus
leprosy of Sarhba, Krisna*s son, and of the poet Mayura was cured by
appeasing the Sun, the latter of whom had composed 100 verses in doing so.

Small-pox in charge of Sitala — 'the cool, chilly one\ her euphemistic
title based on the strong fever accompanying an attack— was the terror of
mothers*’ in a land where an attack, often fatal, was a common incident in
a child’s life. Sitala is represented either by a clay or a stone image of a
female riding on an ass, holding a water-pot and a broom in her hands, and
a winnow on the head,*’ to which were hung leaves of the Nimba tree and
a creeper; and to it milk, flowers and fruit were offered — all soothing things.
She is in fact the Goddess of Sanitation and Hygiene. The Sitala Saptaml
vow, observed even today by women of Gujarat, is an yearly day held in
respect of Sitala, when all cooking is held up and things ‘ cold ’ (wrongly
understood for ‘ soothing ’) alone are eaten, to appease the Goddess.

Cholera or Mahamari is another of such disease-godlings. A method
of passing on the disease from the village by a cart, is called Mdtd no Ratha
common in Gujarat. The cart was dragged a couple of miles beyond the
place where Cholera first appeared, to a place where four roads met, the
cart being emptied there and the food offered to outcastes.

For many of the diseases, appropriate forms of spell or incantations
were prescribed, to relieve not only diseases attributed to spirits but even
for snake-bite and scorpion-bites. These made up much of the rural folk-
medicine. References to these spells are abundant in stories of the Jaina
Yatis and of Samal Bhatl.

Among people of the lower culture, beating was a well-known means
for expelling demons. The wide-spread custom of hanging rags on trees
to relieve disease and other troubles is probably based on a belief which
regards it to be an offering of respect to the tree-Spirit. The Cintharia
Deva is established where people object to the felling of a tree, and so paint
a figure of Siva’s tridant on it and throw a number of stones at its root.

No group of rites is more important in the religk)n of the peasant than
those devoted to the propitiation of his Ancestors, the kindly Dead. The
series of rites by which the tendance rather than worship of the soul of the
departed is accomplished is known as ' Sraddha an act done with faithful
belief.

40. Verse describing reads as under

THE RELIGIOUS FACTORS : REUOIOUS INSTITUTIONS

231

^ The general cult of ancestor- worship developed only, to the limits
wherein persons renowned for their piety and virtue, or distinguished
in some other way, were included. In this class came the Siddha, the
‘perfect’, sometimes identified with the Yogi, holy-man who ‘by his
austerities gained yoga or communion with the Divine’. As the Sadhu
(popular name for Siddha) was supposed to be in a condition of trance when
he died, the corpse was buried and not cremated; the platform raised over
the place was called his ‘Samadhi* — ^profound meditation. Kabir, Dadu,
Jfianesvara and countless others were accordingly buried. Many religious
leaders or founders of sect have been deified.

The next link between ancester-worship and hero-cults is that of the
Sat), ‘the virtuous wife’. The custom was usual among families of the
warrior class, when Sati on her way to the pyre marked the chief gateway
of a temple or a fort with the impress of her hand steeped in vermilion.
These marks were afterwards made permanent by chiseling and were wor-
shipped by her relations. A blessing given by a Sati on her way to death
was highly valued, her curses brought ruin on those against whom they
were directed. “ The names of Ranaka Devi and Nagamati are already re-
ferred to in another context. Satis from the Brahmin caste were also not
unknown."

At many places in Gujarat and Saurastra, particularly on the banks
of rivers or tanks, little masonry shrines dedicated to a Sati may be seen,
and they often take the place of or include those in honour of the Saintly
dead. Crooke has wittingly ob.served ^ that “the peasant is not careful about
the object of his devotion; and, one of the pillars of the Revenue Survey has
been found doing duty as the Shrine of some nameless Sati !”

Besides the divine men of their own race or religion, the Hindu peasant
of the land worships a number of Musalman saints. The names of Jamal-
.shah, Angarsha, Arjunsha, and many others may be recounted here. The
curses of deified men are highly dangerous. A famous saint appeared at
the great city of Valabhi, but no one, save a potter’s wife, would cook for

him. So he cursed the city and warned the potter and his wife to leave the

•

41. Hence, the Gujarati pi-ovc-rb: ‘ ^ ’

Vide, G. V. Acarya’s paper on Stones in the Bombay Presidency' at the

Third Oriental Conference, Madras (1925),

42. Satima PraUHkurhvar, daughter of Divan An andaram MunsilT and mother of
Mehta Chotabhai Udesankar, aged 18, arj^d other son Lalbhai, aged 15, (the
great-great-grand-mother of Sir Cinubhdi Baronet) aged 55 became Sati on the
banks of Sarasvati, near Hariharesvara temple at Pfitan, in Samvat 1855,
dr&vaoaiVadi Ek&dashi.

48. RaMflflan and Pplfcipr# o/ Nonhurn India, page 156,

232

CULTURAL HISTORY OF GUJARAT

city, and he adjured the woman not to look back. But when she reached the
sea-shore, she, like Lot’s wife, disobeyed the order, and she was turned into
a pillar stone ! At that moment Valabhi was destroyed " The taboo against
looking back appears in many tales.

The Dreams sometimes are believed to reveal the dead through them.
In the Buddhist royal courts special officials were appointed to interpret
dreams, and now-a-days little manuals are sold in the bazars known as
‘'Sakunavali”, the collection of rules to interpret omens, good or bad." Some
Jaina writers of the 15th and 16th centuries have composed poems in old
Gujarati to cater for the taste of the masses. As the spirit is supposed to
leave the body in a dream, it is prohibited to wake up a sleeping man
suddenly. Dreams have played a considerable part in forecasting either
good or bad incidents connected with history and literature of Gujarat."
Falling in love in a dream, just as Usa did with Aniruddha, is a stock in-
cident in the folk- tales. As for the dream, so for the shadow of a man, which
is taken to be a part of his personality, like his soul; it may be separated
from him or an enemy may injure him by maltreating his shadow. Manu
has warned the Dvija not to step intentionally on the shadow of an idol, of
a Guru, of a King or of one who has been initiated.

The consideration of these beliefs regarding the soul leads to the con-
ceptions of the Bhuta, a created being, — an uncanny fellow, spirit, ghost, or
goblin — that besets the imagination of uncultured people. In its most mali-
gnant form, it was believed to be the ghost of a man who had perished by a
violent death, by epidemic as opposed to endemic disease, by accident,
suicide or capital punishment; and its malignity was enhanced if it had been
denied due funeral rites. Hence arose the pressing demand of the death-
ritual, of the Sraddha, and other rites of appeasement and tendance of the
dead. The mentality of an average Gujarati is not free from this belief and
they have read of various ghost-stories, the most popular being *Vetdla
PacisV (Pancavisi), and the incidents in Jaina * Rasas ^ where the super-
natural is utilized to heighten the interest and fancy of the credulous
Gujarati men and women. Even Brahmans in Gujarat dread the ghost of

44. Rasa Mala, Page 14.

45. Vide, “Secular Paintings of Kdkaruta (Samvat 1561) and l^akunamdW*
M. R. Majmudar, Dr. A.B.Dhruva Commemoration Volume (1943); Lalit Kald,
No. 9. (1962).

46. See, Folk-<songs in which they figure as popular persons; as in Hadhidlt Rata
Part I in songs like

^ ^ ?r5f ’

47. Manu Smrti, Adh. IV, 61, 130,

THE BELIGIOUS FACTORS : REUGIOUS JNSTITOTIONS

233

a wwnan who has died while pregnant, on the day of the birth of a child or
during the prescribed period of impurity, believing that she becomes a
DakinI, one of the female friends who attend the blood-thirsty goddess Kali
and feed on human flesh.

The custom of religious suicide as in starving oneself to death, or
taking a fatal jump and the like, in fulfilment of vows either for temporal or
future good is met with in the religion of the masses. Ascetics used to hurl
themselves over the rocks either at the Orakara temple on the Narmada or
the particular peak on the Girnar called ' Bhairava jarhpa ’ in the hope of
being reincarnated in a more happy state in a future birth, a practice sup-
pressed by the British in 1824. The 'Karvata' (the saw) at Benares was
also reputed to be doing the same service in popular belief.® The Gujarati
proverb ‘ qNtJTIiTNt ’ smells of the same practice wherein the desire

of a cobbler to get a higher birth in the next life was afterwards given up.
his ideal being centred upon the birth in his own caste, as birth in a higher
caste entailed on him higher rituals and intricate ceremonies. The metrical
romance of *Hansdvali ’ by Sivadas in Sarhvat 1684 has a lively incident
woven round this ‘ Karvata ’ custom, which was ultimately stopped through
the intercession of the King of Benares as related in the story.

Night is the time when demons are supposed to walk abroad, and
lightened fire alone scares them. The scaring away of demons by the power
of light is illustrated by the custom of Arati or waving in circular motion
of lights around a person as a protection, and by the Diwali or the ‘ annual
feast of lights ’ when the Pitrs are .shown the light. The Vidhata or the
$ai^thl Devi is said to visit the new-born child on the night of the sixth day
when she writes down the future of the child, known as the ‘ Chattht na
lekha’, which can hardly be changed.

In the folk-tales Raksasas change their forms at will. To close the
catalogue of malignant .spirits or demons we may mention those who are
invoked to frighten children. The Ghogha Rana — Lascar Seamen from the
port of Ghogha — were called upon to send children to sleep, but some say
that the word is really connected with ‘ Ghuggu \ the owl.

48. The mention of these ways of sclI-mortification is found in Thobhaija’s Rddhd-
Krf^a nd Viraha nd Mahind :

“iHf !

JfiRftv. 31^ 45^ g«I 5 , !

ifii snog li Rtn 'ttik 5ti® !

234

CULTURAL HISTORY OF GUJARAT

Certain places are believed to be specially haunted by Bhutas or evil
spirits. First they naturally infest burial or cremation grounds, the awe
or loneliness suggesting that they are haunted. Old ruins which are un-
canny from their loneliness and because their desolation implies that the
luck of the original owners has become exhausted are also believed to be
haunted. The respect for caves is believed to be due to the old custom
of cave-burial. It is believed that many of the caves occupied for religious
purposes by Buddhists, Hindus or Jainas or inhabited by ascetics were
used for this purpose. *'

Bhutas may enter the body tlirough the mouth and nose, a belief
which explains the customs in connection with sneezing, yawning or
hiccough. Various forms of congratulation or deprecation are used in the case
of sneezing. There is some difference of opinion as to whether a sneezing is
auspicious or not and generally it is considered as a bad omen. Hence the
Gujarati phrase sff 'Tfi)- Even Mahomedans, when a man sneezes,

say, " Allah-ni-duvah” and Parsis call out “May Ahriman! the evil spirit be
broken”. It is dangerous to yawn lest a Bhuta may go down the throat
Hence people snap their thumbs and fingers in the hope of recalling his soul,
or as others explain, to scare away the demon who might be entering the
mouth of the yawner.

Twitching of the right eye is lucky for males and of the left unlucky
and various rules are prescribed for interpreting the twitching of the lids
and eyes. The converse is said to hold good in the ca.se of a female.

Bhutas may also enter the body through the feet or hands. At mar-
riage the feet of the bride-groom and sometimes those of the brides® are
carefully washed because he or she may have brought some strange Bhutas
or other pollution from outside. Drinking water with which the feet of the
holy man have been washed communicates with it their holiness to the
drinker. It is known as Caranamrta.

The ears can also be an entry for Bhutas, and one explanation of the
practice of ear-piercing at an early age is that it is done as a protection
against the incoming of the evil spirits. Occasionally among Hindus the
ears of boys are pierced with the object of producing a blot of imperfection,
or to ascribe them to girl class, who are less liable to the attacks of the Evil Eye
or demons. The bride-groom shooting an arrow through the space under the
bride’s arm-pit or piercing the ear is illustrated by a story in Samalbhatt’s

49. Indian Antiquary, Vol. XXXII, 342f. n.

50. As In Omharar^a ; ‘ TO

^ injlf ’

THE RELIGIOUS FACTORS : RELIGIOUS INSTITUTIONS

235

‘Vetala Pacini* '* With the provision of a temporary home of the spirit
we may compare the cycle of beliefs known as the * Life-Index \ In the
folk-tales it appears as a bird, an insect, a plant, or even a necklace.

Many of the rites performed with the intention of promoting the
fertility of human beings, domestic animals and crops can also be traced in
the social life of Gujarat. Sympathetic magic of various forms is employed
for this purpose. Water being the prime giver of fertility, bathing is always
prescribed as a cure for barrenness. The hair of a mother of a large family
or a child is secured by a barren woman in the hope that the quality of
fertility may be transferred to her from the owner of the hair. Many
marriage-rites are performed with the same intention. One of the most
common of the fertility charms is to fill the bride’s lap with a bunch of fruits
and vegetables. The anointing of the bride and bride-groom with oil is an
important ceremony and it is a general custom that some of the condiment
rubbed on the bride is sent to the bridegroom, and vice versa, the object be-
ing to produce communion between the pair. The sacred turmeric’s colour,
suggests ripe grain; and the object of Plthl is thus to fertilize bride and
bridegroom, as well as to protect them from malignant spirits.

Deities which promote fertility — ^both male and female — are provided
with consorts. The marriage of Siva and Parvati is a favourite subject in
Indian sculpture, a notable example being that in the caves at Elephanta.
The ‘TulasJ Vivaha’ celebrated in Gujarat is believed to be a similar rite.
The problems of agriculture are accompanied by various magical riles
intended to promote the fertility of the crops and to protect them from
malignant spirits.

In Gujarat during the autumnal feast various kinds of grain, especially
barley, are worshipped in honour of the Mother Goddess, some earth being laid
in the family chapel and on its surface the grains are dropped. The earth is
kept moistened and on the tenth day the sprouts (^, qr^TTf?: ; 3^. ‘ ^ 0
worshipped. The vow of the ‘Gauri-pujana’ or the *Molakat Vrata’ is
observed by Gujarati girls on the sixth day of Asadha when they fill
»

51. Bfhat Kdvya Dohana, Part. Vll, page 555 : Seventh story.

52. Cf. The prayer of Vi^aya in Candrahdsa Akhydna by Nakar (Brhat Kdvya
De/iana, Pt. VIII, page 523);

wri ! wm

■ff *it^ ww ! »7R.

And bUo see “ ”, in ValUbha-bhatV* famous poem.

236

CULTURAL HISTORY OT GUJARAT

earthen dishes with loose soil mixed with dry powdered cowdung; and in
this, they sow wheat or barley seeds, so that they sprout when the girls
remain sitting in one place and eat nothing flavoured with salt. This is the
* Alund-vrata ' which was observed by Usa (as related to us by Premanand)
in order to secure a suitable husband. Even males wear these sprouts in the
turbans on the Dasera holiday.

The festivals intended to protect and to promote the fertility of cattle
form a group of their own. The Govardhana puja day associated with the
legends of Krsna, the Gopls and the flock of cows has come to be observed
in Gujarat after the spread of Valabhi Vaisnavism. ^‘Akbar who was fond
of patronising rural cults, had arranged that on the day of Divaii, on
which the Hindus worship the cow several cows were adorned and brought
before his Majesty.'’

The use of the first-fruits of the harvest is carefully regulated, be-
cause all that is new is sacred or taboo, not to be touched by man until the
taboo is removed by certain ceremonies. In the same way, doing anything
for the first time, a rite de passage such as entering a new state like puberty
or marriage is fraught with danger. Hence the eating of first-fruits is often
accompanied by the dedication of the part of the produce to the Higher
Powers. Some high caste Hindus celebrate the festival known as ^ Navanna
Purnima ', the full-moon-day of the new corn — that immediately follows the
Dasera. It was known in ancient times as Agrayanesti — ^first fruits’ rites.

The belief in the danger resulting from the Evil Eye known as ‘ JVazar’
referred specially to the baneful influence emanating from the glance of
certain classes of people. The popular explanation of the origin of this be-
lief is that it is based on envy or covetousness. Manu has classed a one-
eyed person with others who are to be carefully avoided, possibly because
the glance of such a person is more concentrated than that of the ordinary
people.'* The evil eye is generally believed to be the result of magic or
witchcraft such as overlooking, cursing, bewitching or the like. The peacock
with the semblance of eyes in the feathers of its tail is supposed to possess
the power of averting evil eye.

One method of avoiding the evil eye was to make on the person likely
to be affected, a mark which acts as a disguise or prophylactic. Many people
in Gujarat, with this object, put lamp-black on the children’s eye and even
cheeks, a device which serves the practical purpose of protecting them

53. Ain-i*Akhari, I, page 216.

54. Manu Smrti, Adh. HI, Si. 156.

THE RELIGIOUS FACTORS : RELIGIOUS INSTITUTIONS

237

from Sun-glare.® Domestic animals like horses and cattle are protected by
having beads or cowry-shells round their necks.

A man^s name is part of his personality and a recital of those of the
deities has special influence in a mystical religion like the Hindu.
Hence the name and age are to be concealed, the reason being that the
knowledge of age coupled with that of the sign of the Zodiac under which a
person was born, will give his enemies a chance of working black magic
against him. All the Moghul Emperors and other Musalman Kings had at
least three names; and accordingly the date of Akbar^s birth was concealed
and he was given a new name at his circumcision. '' A Hindu woman will
not name her husband;’

Iron is used in many forms as an amulet. It is said that stools
required in religious ceremonies must have no nail or other iron in them;
for, iron frightens away not only bad but even good spirits. Gold and silver
are protectives. Jewels were probably amulets before they became
ornaments. Hindus consider all alloys impure, and do not use them for
religious purposes.

Gems and precious stone.s from the sea are also used as protectives. In
Gujarat a coral ring is worn to obviate the evil influence of the Sun, pos-
sibly on account of its reddish colour. The conch-shell is used in waking
the God in his temple and in summoning his worshippers and in scaring away
demons and other evil influences from the offerings. Precious stones have
similar value. In a special combination, the nine jewels — ‘ Nava ratna ’ — have
special protective powers.

Beads, partly on account of the material from which they are made
and partly from the fact that they are perforated, which suggests that they
may be occupied by spirits, are valued as protective. Women wear neck-
laces called the ' Mafigala Sutra ’ consisting of a Gold Ball and some black
glass-beads, hence called the ‘Kali Kanthl’. Some beads have special
religious associations like the Rudraksa, Rudra being the Vedic storm-god.
Vaisnavas wear beads made of the wood of the Tulasi or holy basil sacred
to Visnu. *

55. Vide Dayaram— “ oraftancit H i

^

56. Vincent Smith : Akbar, page 18.

57. Akho : % S’?! g

b mm

238

CULTURAL HISTORY OF GUJARAT

Rosaries have special magical power, and the number of the beads
varies with the religion and the sect. Saivas are having usually 32 or
double that number, Vaisnavas 108.“ Rosaries however first came to be
used to count up the number of prayers that were enjoined to be recited a
number of times. The shortening process of prayers went on to such a
stage when only the first words were repeated : Ultimately a stage was reach-
ed by the laity, when even the recital of any scriptural word whatsoever
was dropped, and simply the turning of beads was continued as a part of
one’s religious life. It was this stage of the ‘Japa Mala* that was ridiculed
and attacked downright by protestant poets like Akho.'''

Salt, owing to its preservative power, exercises protective effects. The
sister of the bridegroom sitting near him and waving a cup of salt over his
head, does so to keep off the Evil Eye. The ceremony is known as

Colours play an important part in rites of projective magic. In the
wedding-rite the eyes of the pair are smeared with lamp-black. The black
colour is also ominous, signifying mourning, widowhood etc. Red and yellow,
symbolical of fertility, are the marriage-colours. Fruits such as mangoes, fig
and lemon growing in bunches arc used as protcctivos. Musalmans have
adopted lemon as a protective, from Hindus.*’*

Sometimes branding is believed to bring a pcr.son under the protection
of a god, as the Vaisnavas brand themselves with a Cakra and a Sankha, the
emblems of Visnu; and persons on pilgimage used to get themselves branded
at a holy place as a protective and as a sign that they had visited the god. The
incident of one poet-saint Narbheram (early 19th Century V. S.), who had
been to Dwarka on pilgrimage and was asked to pay the tax for branding,
while the Jogis and the ascetics were not charged, has given us very powerful
songs, commemorating this branding custom.*' Charms and amulets, with

58. Vide, Dr. J. J. Modi : “ The Prayer-Beads or Rosaries ', Auihropologicul Papers
Partll.pp. 92-109 (1913).

59. sm-TTToSPrt ^ ”

%

60. Bhalana^s Rdma-hdlallla. * *

61. Crooke, Folk-lore of Northern Indiay page 296,

62. “ iTig 3?i> #nr3i,—

sn ^ iiFc

See also, Premanand : Kximvarhdi nxi Mdmeru,

THE RELIGIOUS FACTORS : REUGIOUS INSTlTUTtONS

239

Maiitras and Spells kept in metal-cases or inscribed on metal or other tails-
mans, were used to scare away evil eye; so, the claws, teeth, fat and moustaches
of a lion, tiger or leopard communicated courage and strength to the wearer.*"

One of the most powerful protectives is the magic-circle, a line drawn
round a person or a thing which bars the entry of malevolent Spirits or other
forms of evil.*" There are constant references in the folk-tales to the custom
of drawing such lines round places which are taboo as in the performance of
the rites of Black Magic or to keep out witches and evil Spirits. Samalbhatt’s
“Panca Danda” story abounds in references to this drawing of lines by the
magic-wand called the ‘ Danda *, creating* marvels. The magical power of
the circle appears also in the ring. The marriage bracelet carries with it
the hard fruit of Madana a plant sacred to Kama, God of Love;

its presence will save either of them from the ravages of passion during the
next eight or ten days; she may w^ear this fruit on her wrist three times
during her life — at her wedding, when .she conceives, and when she dies
leaving her husband to mourn her/'

Strings and knots serve as protection and have many magical powers.
The sacred cord (yainopavita) of a Dvija, the KubU of the Parsls and the
string of the sacred Kusa grass round the waist of a Jaina boy at the initia-
tion are the common phases of the same string or knot which serve as pro-
tection. In the same class is the ‘Raksa ' — the thread tied on the w^rist in the
month of Sravana, the most unhealthy season of the year, when malarious
fever, ascribed to spirit agency, is ripe. An expectant mother is invested with
similar thread in the fifth month of her pregnancy in order to ward off the
Evil Eye, illness, and the spells of other jealous women.“ The siring as a
symbol of union is used in the marriage rites. The Kahkana-dora or the
strings round the bracelets of the wedded pair are, after the ceremony is

63. S’?"! : vrm-

64. Compare, the line that was drawn by Lak^mana with the end of the bow,
protecting Sita as long as she was inside the boundary line : —

5IFI, ^

— f ‘ ’•

65. Mrs. Stevenson : Rites of the Twice-born, page 65.

66. aiRTC 50^ :

^ ?r w, wn# d ’’ —

240

COLTUBAl. HtSTOBY OF OtUABAT

over,*" untied. The use of knots or knotted strings in protective wiggip is
common, e. g., Hanumana’s, Kalabhairava’s, etc."

The peasant under the influence of his religious beliefs and his physi-
cal environments is constitutionally a pessimist as observed above. He
naturally mixes up the known and the unknown, the knowable and the un-
knowable, and invents a ‘pseudo-science’, which he believes has its roots
in actual experience, like his knowledge, often considerable and well-founded,
of the weather and seasons in relation to his field and herds. Its extension
10 the field of astrology by his study of omens depended on the interpreta-
tion of dreams, omens and predictions of the astrologer. Hence the
astrologer and diviner are well recognised in village life. Generally they
were low-class Brahmans known as ‘ Garo^as ’. ”* The Hindu peasant con-
sults the JoshI for lucky times for a marriage, the cultivation of his crops,
or any other enterprise which he proposes to undertake. Morning is the
time when the nervous system is at its highest point of tension and the
imagination is most readily impressed. Hence men take anxious precautions
that the first object they see on waking may be auspicious. The rules about
lucky and unlucky persons and objects are not always consistent; but it
seems to be generally regarded as auspicious to see a sweeper removing
filth and a dancing girl because she can never become a widow. An oil-
man and a washerman are very inauspicious probably because their work
is dirty.

67. Marriage songs incorporated in poems like Devidas’s Rukmini Harana (Samvat

1660), and Premanahda’s Okha-harana (Samvat 1739) :

" 't. ”

^ »iis, V'

68. Vailabha's Subhadrdharar}.a :

“ ^1% ^ ^ srl^, 'N stRRT 51 fl,

5^1 fel d f#,

SCSI >^141 «R, f w

^ 'fit f? 515R^ ^ ^ ii%.”

G9. Vide, Protests of poets on this point

(>) it %?r.’

(!i ) ‘ *9) ^51, iR«tit ^ ^dr. ’

— fwirn’i.

(3) “ifirsRs qgtw% ?i5 5ii$t m'l.

JirM ’id, RyNl :

51 Jiddirr Jintt. ’

THE RELIGIOUS FACTORS : SEUOIOUS INSTITUTIONS

241

Mystic qualities are ascribed to numbers for astrological or astrono*
mical reasons, many of which are obscure. ‘ 5 ’ is specially lucky, because
of the Pahcayatana gods; and caste-council is also called ‘Pancayat’. ‘7 ' is
also lucky. Generally odd numbers are lucky all over the world. ‘ 13 ’ is an
unlucky number in India as well as in Europe, and the reason usually
assigned is that it is based on the intercalary month ITW)™ Marriage-
time falls naturally in spring, because it is the time of joy, fertility and
fecundity. The rainy season is the worst time for travelling and hence
it is banned for marriage. There are many rules and much variance of
usage about lucky and unlucky days for travelling and .starting other
enterprises. ”

The worship of material objects prevails among the people of Gujarat,
believing that the object is occupied by some spirit. In the Vedas, we meet
with references to the worship of weapons and implements like the plough
and plough-share. The worship of stones is of special importance, because
in the great alluvial plains a stone is unusual and therefore an uncanny
object. Nearly every village has a Stone, which for various reasons is held
sacred. Unhewn stones are specially venerated, probably because the act
of chiselling may disturb the indwelling Spirit. Some of the most famous
Lingas are known as Svayarhhhu — existing spontaneously, because they are
uncouth and retain their primitive sanctity.

The special class of stones known as ' Paliyas ’ or ‘ Khambhis ’, are
erected in memory of those dead of violence, of martyrs and of persons
eminent for their holiness. In Saurastra, these stones are found at the
entrance of nearly every village, they being erected in honour of man and
woman of the Carana tribe who performed Tragd or self-immolation to
protect the village or to recover its cattle from the predatory Ka^his and other
enemies. On the stone, the name of the victims, the date of their deaths and
the reason for the performance of Traga were recorded, the men shown
on horseback wounding themselves with swords or spear and the women

70. Radha’s Bara Masa*.

“aiftifi in?! ^ gqfqr

71. Cf. words put in the mouth of Sahadeva by Preman and in Naldkhyana (Canto
1. 13. 14) ;

« %5i.

Sira ^ 5:^3 «iig;

«K5P?, w Is Ri?rg. "

16

242

CUliTUSAI. HISTOBT OF OUdAXAT

piercing their arms with knives. This sort of hero-worship is found in all
nations at all ages and stages of civilization. In course of time it develops
into different tangible and material attempts to honour them.

It is believed that the stability inherent in a stone is communicated to
those who sit on it or touch it. In the Vedic age the biidegroom caused the
bride to mount a stone, formally grasped her hand and led her round the
household fire. In later custom.*!, the bride approaches the stone erected in
the marriage-tower and touches it with her foot, or the bridegroom stooping
down takes the bride’s great toe in his hand and with it touches the stone.
(The Vedic Mantra is I). In the same class are the marks of

foot-prints of deities or saints on stones. Dattatreya’s foot-prints on Mt.
Girnar and on Mt. Abu, and Ranachhodrai’s foot-prints on the outskirts
of Dakore, are held sacred.

Among wrought stones, the grind-stone is naturally a symbol of ferti-
lity, and as such it is used in the marriage and birth-rites,” The bride’s
mother shows the groom a small model of a plough and a spinning needle, a
pounder of corn, and a churn-handle, at the same time pulling his nose, possi-
bly to expel evil. The symbols suggest things of sustenance which the mother-
in-law wishes the bride-groom to strive after and secure them in the married
life. Ample corn duo to plough, good clothes woven from hand-spun cotton
and abundance of milk and ghee by the churn-handle, — these are things that
are held out for the prospective house-holder.”

The winnowing fan or scoop is often used in magical rites, as well as
in marriage ceremonies. Brahmanas in Gujarat, on the tenth day after a
birth, lay a boy-child on a wooden slate so that he may become a learned man,
but a girl is placed in a winnowing pan, that she may grow up clever in dome-
stic ways, of which cleaning the grain is one of the most important, — a
characteristic Brahmana interpretation.” The broom derives its sanctity
from its use in purification and the expulsion of evil spirits. It is found in
one of the hands of iSitala, the goddess of hygiene.

The Pestle and Mortar and the pounder with which rice is husked have
a phallic and fertilizing significance and are therefore \ised in marriage rites.

72. Cf. marri.ige son ;s like ; ‘ W
73 Pifimamncl, Ofckdkoraya (C!nto44):

“ 3m, g rtag -ltd? 'i,

m arpTf, V. 8!^
sTf 3iwt, g >?il3

*ir 3JRI, m g f4«i3 5i^ ”

74. Mis. St. venson, Hites of the Twice-born^ page 265.

THS RELIGIOUS FACTORS : RBUCIOUS IN S THi m OMS

243

Weapons are emblems of power. A sword is worshipped at the
Navaratri festival. Rajaputs present the sword from for the
absent bridegroom, and the bride is married to it, as his representative.
The custom probably originated in a desire for secrecy and as a means of
avoiding danger to the youth due to his visiting a strange clan, the members
of which may resist his taking away the bride. Also it might have origi>
nated for the sake of convenience in some cases and in some as a means of
reducing marriage-expenses. Tools and implements used in crafts of the
goldsmith, ironsmith, a carpenter or a mason are also venerated. The Vakt-
Pujana or ledger-worship in front of the image of Goddess Laksml is also
the worship of a material object.

The attitude of the peasant towards the animal world around is mark-
edly inconsistent with some people. He pays much respect to the cow; but
he uses the ox cruelly, yoking it to a plough when its shoulders are pain-
fully galled.'^ Still it is believed that animals have much the same feelings
and passions as human beings. These are illustrated in the folk-tales which
are told not to amuse children in nursery, but as narratives to be implicitly
believed and recognised by grown-ups.

Horse is naturally revered by a race of warriors. Clay-images of
horses are often found at the Village Shrines where they serve as equipage
of the godlings; and Hindus hanged little images of horses made of saw-dust
near the Sitala-mata temple’" or on the grave of some Musalman saint.

The dog was probably the earliest animal domesticated by man, and
hence, on the one hand he ranks as a friendly companion of the owner, while
he is also degraded as a foul beast — the eater of corpses ! In Persia the
Parsls are said to have adopted the Musalman view of the dog and they shrink
from it, while the original belief was that he was one of the good things
created by Ahuramazda. But the Indian Parsis bring the dog into close
connection with the dead. Respect for the dog is naturally most common
among the hunting and pastoral tribes.

•

75. A poem by Kavi Nathji (Sarhvat 1692) published in Buddhiprakdsa (1906) on
page 224 :

“ *iK«lr a ^ 51

tiwr WBwr ?

TO tun ! ”

76. An illustration of this event 1 . paintoi by Rasikla’ Parikh, a Gujarati artist,
named ‘

244

CULTURAL HXSTOBY OF GUJARAT

Devotion to the cow is a predominant feature in Hinduism. The
veneration of the cow begins with its domestication in the pastoral stage
and then on its value as a producer of milk and of the ox as a plough-animal.
The use of * Pancagavya ’ — the five products got from a cow — in public and
domestic rites, gain for it the support of Brahmanas. The worship of the
cow is part of many Hindu rites. In the ^ govrata ’ pious women offer
sweetmeats to the cow, mark her forehead with saffron and then break their
fast. The bull as a type of courage, strength and virility became, in the
form of Nandi, associated with Siva, a god of fertility. Basava (Vrsahha),
the bull, was the traditional founder of the Lingayata sect, a movement
opposed to Brahmanism in the Deccan. The ox is venerated at the Akhairlja
festival, falling on Vaisakha sukla Tritiya, the beginning of the ploughing
season, and is painted, decorated and presented with special food. The builds
holiday is a ‘Bola Cotha’, fourth of the dark fortnight of Sravana, when
women fast till they have worshipped him.

The buffalo, due to its black colour, brutish appearance and dangerous
temper, naturally typifies death, and is the vehicle of Yama. Devi has
gained the title ‘Mahisamardini’, the destroyer of the Buffalo-demon, and
thus a he-buffalo is a victim often sacrificed to Mother Goddesses.

The cult of serpent-worship is based on fear for them. The snake is
dreaded on account of its stealthy habits and deadly bites. Its habit of
haunting houses suggests that it is the abode of the spirits of the dead and
its periodically changing of skin suggests its renewal of life from time to
time. The image of a Naga is worshipped in Gujarat on the bright fifth of
the Sravana 'With offerings of milk, water, Durvd grass and flowers, the
worshipper observing a fast. The race of the Nagas appears throughout the
legend and folk-belief. In artistic representations they appear as snakes
with upper part of their heads crowned with serpents’ hoods while the lower
part of their bodies from the legs downwards is purely animal. In Brahmin
families in Gujarat, women draw with sandal-wood and vermilion figures of
snakes on the Naga Pancami festival, and worship them. There is a socio-
religious folk-tale wherein Naga favours an orphan* girl because of her
devotion. The Ardmasobhd caupdi is a Jaina version of this folk-tale.

The worship of trees and plants as objects of awe and wonder based
on the mystery of their growth, supposes an indwelling spirit in them which
accounts for their use. From their fertilising powers, trees are closely
associated with marriage. The vegetation of the varieties of the fig — Vada,
Pipal, Uihbar and Gular — is universal. The Banyan tree with its serial roots
represents the matted hair of Siva. Devoted wives worship it at the full-

THE SELIGIOUB FACTORS ; RSUGIOUS INSTITOTIOMS

245

moon with the object of lengthening the lives of their husbands and children,
as in the tale of Satyavana and Savitrl.

I^e Pipal tree is worshipped when a boy is invested with a sacred
thread, at marriage and when the foundation of a house is laid. The plan*
tain, from its vigorous growth in bunches, is naturally an emblem of fertility.
Leaves of it are hung on the marriage-shed and a branch is placed near the
host and holy fire, round which the pair marches. The mango, groves of which
are found in most villages in the plains, is valued for its valuable fruits and
pleasant shade. In the .spring the young leaves and buds typify Madana,
God of Love, and they are offered in the worship of Siva in the month of
Magha and of Krsna in Phalguna. A branch is often planted in the centre
of the wedding booth.

The Tulasl or holy basil is one of the things sacred to Vi?nu. Its sanc-
tity probably depends on the aromatic nature of its leaves and its frequent
use in nature-medicine. Many legends have been invented to account for
the veneration paid to it. The wedding rites of the Tulasi, performed at the
opening of the cold season, is the signal for Hindus to begin their marriage
season. The Tulasi is often planted on the top of a little masonry-pillar
near the house when women tend it and pour over it the water in which
Saligrama has been bathed.

The harmless or benevolent forms of Magic — sympathetic, homeopathic,
contagious— which are designed to avert the influence of evil spirits and/or
the evil eye or to promote the fertility of human beings, animals and crops,
have been mentioned above. They are not only tolerated but encouraged,
being performed for worthy objects and in the general interest of the commu-
nity. ‘Black Magic’, as it is popularly called, is of a different type; it is
employed for anti-social ends, for evil purposes such as the destruction of
enemies, the promotion of quarrels and the like. On the whole, black magic
is antagonistic to orthodox Brahmanism, though it is sometimes tolerated
particularly by those who follow the Tantric school or adopted by priest-
hood. The Jaina Yatis in Gujarat are generally accused, and with some
truth in it, for indulging in this black magic."

Among the later religious movements in Gujarat after the Mutiny,
may be mentioned the Protestant revolt of the Arya Samaja headed by

77. Cf. ^ ,

and Surabhatt •

^

^ jp. ’

246

CULTURAL HISTOBT OF CUJASAT

Swam! Dayananda, who hailed from Tahkara, a port near Morbi in
Saura^tra. This was preceded by the founding of the Prarthana Samaja at
Ahmedabad. The philosophical sects headed by Nrsiihhacarya, Sriman
Natthurama Sarma and others are beyond the scope of our argument.

VIII. Fire-worshippers

The white H&nas in the late 5th or early centuries of the Christian era
brought with them the cults of the Sun and Fire; and their priests were
absorbad into Hinduism under the name of ‘Maga Brahmins’.*' Parsis, who
migrated from Persia when that country was occupied by the Arabs in the
8th century, brought their sacred fire with them. But they claim to be strict
monotheists and indignantly repudiate the title of * fire-worshippers ’.** The
ancestors of the Hindus and Parsis at one time belonged to the same race,
spoke the same language, worshipped the same deities, and observed iden-
tical rituals, customs and ceremonies.

The chief cause of the schism and of the subsequent separation of the
two communities was some difference or dispute about the mode of worship
in connection with the principal deity, viz., the God of Light and the God of
Fire. After their separation the two communities became inveterate foes
and began to hate and despise one another. They changed their respective
language, customs and the attributes of their deities. The separation
appears to have taken place about the time when the word ‘ Asura ’ began to
assume the sense of evil in the hymns of the Rg-Veda. Iran or the country of
the Parsis was invaded and subdued several times by the Indo- Aryan Princes
such as Raghu, Partha and others. Similarly portions of India such as
Sindh and Peshawar were for some time under the rulers of Iran. These
circumstances tended to establish mutual intercourse and the exchange of
mutual culture and civilization. The first colony of the Parsis in India
was that of the Maga priests from Sakadvipa or Scistan. They became
assimilated with the Hindu population; stories were invented in the Puranas
about their great sanctity; and eventually they were raised to the position
of high-caste Brahmins. They were styled as ‘Maga’ or ‘Bhojaka’
Brahmins and they alone were declared to be fit to c(V)secrate the temples
of the God of Light."

%

Parsis regard Fire as the emblem of refulgence, glory and light, the
truest symbol of God, the noblest, most excellent and most useful of God’s

78. Bom. Gaz., IX, Part I, page 439 fn.

79. Religion and folk-lore of Northern India by W. C. Crooke, page 334.

80. Vide, R. B. P. B. Joshi’s paper on "Side-Upkta on the pant history of Parsis”, J. B,
B, R. A. S.,Vol.XXVI.

THE RELIGIOUS FACTORS : RELIGIOUS IRSTTrUTXONS

247

creations; and its purity is enhanced by the rights performed at its instal-
lation. The Pire-altar is known as Agiari (Sanskrt Agni-Agara; Pralqrit
AggiAydra), and all fire-temples are known as such. The history of the
sacred fire after it was re-established on Indian soil is described in records
of Parsis and the facts of their immigration in Gujarat, they being promised
refuge by the Yadava King Jadi Rana. Among Parsis, eating and drinking
are considered as religious acts and fasting and penance are forbidden. All
holidays are spent in feasting, rejoicing and prayer.

Though theirs is not a missionary religion they seem to have been
anxious to make converts. In 1578 at the request of the Emperor Akbar
they sent learned priests both from Navsari and from Kirman in Persia to
explain the Zoroastrian faith. They found Akbar a ready listener and a
willing believer and taught him their peculiar terms, ordinances, rites and
ceremonies. Perpetual fire was made to be kept in the Palace, night and
day; for fire was one of the signs of God and one light from among the many
lights of His creation. Akbar, according to the Portuguese accounts, was
invested with the sacred shirt and girdle, and in return, granted the Gujarat
priest Meherji Rana an estate at Navsari. It is gratifying to note that the
two creeds which had the most influence upon Akbar’s mind from 1578 to
his death in 1605 were Jainism and Zoroastrianism, the priests of both
hailing from Gujarat.

The Parsis, the followers in India of Zoroaster (Zarathus^ra) were
the descendants of the ancient Persians emigrated to India on the conquest of
their country by the Arabs in the 8th or the 9th Century. They first landed
at Sanjan on the coast of Gujarat where the Hindu ruler received them
hospitably. To this day their vernacular language is Gujarati; and their
Sanskpt writings being the old translations of Avesta and Pahlavi texts are
also accompanied with Old Gujarati renderings thereof for the common man.
A Parsi colony had settled at Navsari as early as 1142 A. U., but the main
immigration came about 1520 A. D., when the Parsis were driven out of
Sanjan by Mahomed£q}s.

One Ako Adhyaru, a Parsi priest is reputed to have composed 16
verses in Sanskpt in Sragdkard metre, purporting to intrtduce the Yadava
king to the introduction of the Parsis regarding their religious beliefs and
their general observance of social moral code. The line ‘ifpj

I ’ is the refrain of these verses : “Who are they that

a day adore the sun and the elemental five (fire, aether, wind,
earth and water) which exist eternal in the three worlds, and who, wor-

248

CULTUBAL HISTOBY OB GUJARAT

ship the Divine Hormuz or King of Angels, full of justice, power and
mercy ? — They are the fair, the fearless, valiant and athletic Parsis

IX. The Islam

The desert conditions of Arabia and the nomadic and pastoral life of
its population gave Islam its true character. There yet lingered in Arabia
to a very considerable extent the old nature’s worship; and many of the rites
and beliefs of this older type of religion had its influence on Mahomad.

Mahomad was an ardent believer in immortality, though his paradise
has in it too many sensual pleasures to make it wholly attractive to men of
a high ethical temper. Much of the old Arabian animism and fetishism
clung to his teaching as was natural in such an environment as his. In two
respects at least the moral teaching of Mahomad was sound in that he
abolished gambling and drinking. In respect to woman his attitude was far
less advanced, for he regarded her as largely a mere instrument of man’s
pleasure and his servant. He supported polygamy and permanently fastened
it upon his religion. He did abolish infanticide and especially that of girls,
which had been very common in the Arabia preceding his time. He incul-
cated honour to parents and he gave emphasis to the spirit of toleration.

Allah is a magnificent despot. The angels that throng about Him are
those of a splendid court, with the ranks of one above another and its auto-
cratic tendencies in all directions. Very distinctly materialistic is the heaven
and the hell of Mahomad. “ Mahomad’s teachings in regard to the resurrec-
tion of the body, probably taken over from his religious predecessors, is most
materialistic, the actual body being that which survives the grave. The
whole substance of the creed of Mahomad is that God is one and that
Mahomad is his prophet. The accusation often made that Islam is sensuous
and materialistic, almost exclusively, is not justified in regard to some of its
more ethical and spiritual developments. In the teachings of Sufis and in
their poetry, highly mystical as they were, may be found many a phase of
noble religious import.

81. Vide, ‘Collected Sanskrt Writings of the Parsis’ Paft IV, (1933) edited by
E. S. D. Bharucha and M. P. Khareghat, I.C.S.

# 95gopif<jjpi ?ril^ ms i

%r g4Ki ’tjwfimi# ^ ii i w

82. An important consideration in judging the early Mahomedan idea of ‘Para-
dise ’ is a social, economic and especially geographical environment of the
people. What was rare in Arabian life would be what was most desired in
the after life, e. g. rivers, gardens, trees, fruits and other comforts.

THE RELIGIOUS FACTORS : REUGI0U8 INSTlTtmONS

249

Islam is in every respect the antithesis of Hinduism. Its idea is
strenuous action rather than hypnotic contemplation; it allots man a single
life and bids him make the best of it. , Its practical spirit knows nothing of
a series of transmigration, of Karma, of the weariness of existence which
weighs upon the Hindu mind. On its social side the religion of Mahomad is
equally opposed to the Hindu scheme of a hierarchy of castes, an elaborate
stratification of society based upon subtle distinctions of food, drink, dress,
marriage and ceremonial usage. In the sight of God and His prophet all
followers of Islam are equal. In India, however, caste is in the air; its con-
tagion has spread even to the Mahomedans; and we find its evolution pro-
ceeding on characteristically Hindu lines. “In both communities foreign
descent forms the highest claim to social distinction; in both, promotion
cometh from the West. As the twice-born Aryan is to the mass of Hindus
so is the Mahomedan of alleged Arab, Persian, Afgan or Monghol origin to
the rank and file of his co-religionists. And just as in the traditional Hindu
system men of the higher groups could marry women of the lower, while the
converse process was vigorously condemned, so, within the higher ranks of
Mahomedans a Saiyad will marry a Shaikh’s daughter but will not give his
daughter in return.”®’

Religions oppoised like Hinduism and Mahomedanism could not amal-
gamate without losing their identities, because, in fact, Muslim faith connoted
an opposite culture. It meant for the Hindus religious persecution, forced
conversion, cruelty to women, and a life of sensuous pleasures. Such a
culture would therefore be obviously antagonistic to the naturally non-inter-
fering, peace-loving, and quite passive character of the Hindus. The Hindus
were willing to allow others their own religious beliefs, and were even so
passive as not to feel oppressed with political subjection if the rulers did
not interfere with their religious beliefs and customs.

We have already referred to the earliest existence of Mahomedans in
Gujarat since the middle of the 7th century. The first to arrive were the
Arabs, the sailors and the soldiers of the Bagdad fleets who came to plunder
and conquer the Gujerat coasts. The next to come were traders from the
Persian Gulf who were encouraged by the Rajaput kings of Anahilvad to
settle in the country. After the conquest of Gujarat by Allauddin upto the
end of the 18th Century, foreign Musalman soldiers, traders, missionaries
and refugees kept flocking into Gujarat both by land and sea. The Sultans of
Gujarat were zealous in propagating the faith of Islam and defending it; and
so many learned divines, sages and men of righteousness from various

y3. Imperial Gazetteer I, p. 329.

250

COX.TUSAL HBTOHT QT ODJABAT

places were invited with all honour to settle in this land and they were given
generous stipends and royal patronage. Some of them yearning to preach
to the people came over of their own Record and settled here, pleased by the
reverential attitude of the Sultans towards religious heads. “Hence all sorts
of men, noble Saiyads, great Suhs, respected Ullemas, and adventurous
traders of different countries— Arabia, Persia, Syria, Rum, Sindh and
Hindustan — came from time to time and settled here, attracted by the bene*
ficence, equity and piety of its rulers.

Of these missionaries the most important was Abdulla who founded in
the 11th century the sect of the Shiah Vorahs. Among other distinguished
missionaries may be mentioned Imam Shah of Pirana who made many con-
verts from the Kapbi and other artisan castes. The forcible conversion of
people to Sunnism, by the Ahmadabad Sultans, principally Sultan Ahmad,
Mahomad Begda and Mahomad II, as well as the Mughal Emperors Jahangir
and Aurangzeb, was accompanied by persecution. The existence of two
distinct classes of Mahomedans is an illustration of the fact that in Gujarat
Shiahism was spread by persuasion of preachers and Sunnism by the power
ef Rulers. Though the well-defined clear-cut monotheism of Islam is much
less favourable to the growth of sects, there is polytheistic, eclectic
Hinduism at the bottom. In Islam the sects were as numerous as those of
the Hindus or Christians, the sectarian movement usually following one of
the two lines, viz., it was either puritanical or pietistic.

The Hindus and Mahomedans had lived side by side for so many cen-
turies that they had naturally learnt to tolerate and unconsciously imbibed
each other’s social customs, common beliefs, and even superstitious rites, and
the process must have begun long before the conquest of India by Babar and
his immediate successors. Towards the Tughlaq period, the Mahomedans of
India had earned such a notoriety for their heathenish practice among co-
religionists outside India that Timur regarded his invasion of India as a real
'Jehad for, according to him, most of the Indian Mohamedans were no
better than heathens. In the Mal/uzat-i-Timuri we read that his expedi-
tion was directed mainly against the infidels and poly^eists of India, who
called themselves Musalmfins but had strayed from the Mahomedan fold.”
In the rural districts, Islam had been largely, affected by its Hindu environ-
ment. If it had gained some converts from Hinduism, it had borrowed from
it many of those practices which distinguish it from the original faith of
Arabia. By degrees the fervent enthusiasm of the early raiders was softened

84. Mirat-i-Ahmadl, Supplement, page 121.

85. Elliot and Dawson, Vol. VIII, page 426.

THX BKUOXOUS FACTOBS : BSUGlOttS IW STmmO NS

251

down. The two religions learned to live side by side; and if the Mahomedan
of the later days could never conceal his contempt for the faith of his
* pagan ’ neighbovirs, he came to understand that it could not be destroyed
by persecution.

From the Hindus, Islam derived much of its demonology, and the belief
in witchcraft. The conversion to Islam whenever it did occur, peacefully
and under persuasion, was largely from the lower castes. Islam is one of the
most democratic religions in the world, and welcomes to full franchise the
low-caste man groaning under the contempt which meets him at the hands
of his haughtier neighbours.

It is stated in Futuhut~i~Firoz$hahi that “ Tantric doctrines in their
grossest interpretation as well as ordinary idolatry, without any philosophy
at all, found converts among credulous women. The higher teaching of the
Vedanta, too, was not altogether lost upon the Mahomedans of India. ”

Sufism is nothing but Vedantism in the Islamic garb, and the celebra-
ted Shaikh Nizamuddin Aulia was suspected of Sufi leanings. Sufism,
however, did not disappear wih him and was found to prosper in its most
advanced form during the reign of Firuzshab in the far-off province of
Gujarat. The Emperor tells us : “A person set himself up as a Sheikh in
the country of Gujarat, and having got together a body of di.sciples, used to
say * Ana-l-Hakk ’ (I am God). He commanded his disciples that when he
used these words they were to say, ‘Thou art, Thou art’. He further said,
‘ I am the King who dies not. ’

In the abovementioned ‘Ana-l-Hakk' we hear pothing but an echo of
‘ Soham ’ (I am He) and the Hindu theory of identity and unity between
the Creator and His creation. A book written by the Gujarat! heretic was
burnt at the orders of the zealous Emperor; but did that root out the heresy?
The Emperor refers to the practice of Musalman ladies going out in cities on
festive occasions in carts and palanquins to the tombs or in large parties on
foot. This was stopped. These heresies were due to the fact that all new
converts were uneducated people of the lower classes who found it very
difiicult to shake off tdeir old beliefs and customs.*

Also many Mahomedan scholars studied Sanskji: literature and
philosophy. The celebrated poet Amir Khusru, ‘The parrot of Hindu’, was
a sincere and ardent admirer of both. Moreover, heredity and environment,
after all could not be easily dismissed an^ those converted from Hinduism,

86. “Hinduism and Mahomedan Heretics during the Pathan Period” by Dr.
Surendrangth Sen; Oriental Conference Report (Calcutta Sessions).

252

CULTURAL niSTORY OF GUJARAT

who often rose to very high positions and who intermarried in high families,
were probable not a little responsible for the propagation of the Hindu ideas
and introduction of Hindu customs among their new relatives and co-reli-
gionists. This seems all the more likely when we remember that even today
uneducated Musalmans in Gujarat, Bengal and Deccan willingly worship
many popular Hindu Gods, and the Hindus, on their part, resort to Shrines
of celebrated Muslim Saints with unmitigated alacrity. Even the caste
system, as shown above, a practice opposed to the fundamental democratic
doctrines of Islam, is recognised by many Muslims in India, due to the con-
tactual and cultural influence of the Hindus. Thus toleration grew apace
among the people in general, and in Bengal and Hindustan and, to some
extent, in Gujarat. Many Mahomedan poets came forward to enrich the
Vaisnava and other literatures to be dealt with in the succeeding chapter.

As the Sufis*^ popularised Vedantic doctrines among Moslems, so also
the Hindus, in their turn, made a serious endeavour, to introduce the demo-
cratic principles of Islam into their own faith. The result of this movement
was the Sikhism of Nanak, the Kabir Pantha and the Vaisnavism of Caitanya
and many of the non-idolatrous and Guru-worshipping sects in India.

A few external characteristics which are neither a philosophy nor a
tenet, but actual living — Achdra — of the masses in Gujarat, may be mentioned.
Hindus and Jainas pray facing the East, while Musalmans pray facing the
West, that is towards Macca. The Hindu venerates the cow, will not, as a
rule, kill animals, and most of them abstain from meat. The Jaina scrupu-
lously protects animal life and never touches meat. The Musalman loathes
the pig and the dog; but has no prejudice against any other animal. Hindus,
Jainas, and Musalmans use tobacco but most of them reject narcotics and
ardent spirits. Hindus and Jainas shave their heads leaving a scalp-lock,
while Musalmans shave the head, but keep no scalp-lock and generally do
not shave the beard. Hindus and Jainas button their coats to the right,
Musalmans to the left. Hindus and Jainas wear Dhotis, while Musalmans
usually put on long trousers and only occasionally a dhoti, but without
Kachhadi or back piece. Hindus and Jainas prefer red and saffron colours
. _ •

87. "Sufism is a strange combination of the pantheism of the Aryan race and of
the severe monothesim of their Semitic conquerors, and aims at leading men
to the contemplation of spiritual things by appealing to their emotions. The
keynote of the system is that the human soul is an emanation from God, and
that it is always seeking and yearning to rejoin the source from which it is
sprung. Ecstasy is the means by which a nearer intercourse is obtained and
absorption in the divinity is the ultimate object to be attained. Quoted in
Imp, Gaz., I, page 437.

THE REUGIOUS FACTORS : RSUGIOUS INSTITUTIONS

253

and dislike black; Musalmans prefer green to all others. Hindus and Jainas
use brass-vessels, while vessels used by Musalmans are usually of copper.
Hindus and Jainas may cook in, but may not eat out of an earthen vessel,
which has already been once used for the purpose. A Musalman may use an
earthen vessel over and over again, to eat from it. Musalmans, and to some
extent some Jainas, eat together from a common dish; while Hindus use
separate dishes for each person.

Hindus and Jainas marry in circumambulation of the sacred fire, but
among Musalmans formal consent of the parties is asked and given before
witnesses. Musalmans practise circumcision, but Hindus and Jainas do not.
Musalmans bury their dead, while the Hindus and Jainas, as a general rule,
burn them. No Hindu or Jaina will interdine with a Musalman; a Musal-
man will eat and drink without scruples from the hands of anybody. These
are some of the most striking of the peculiarities in social, religious, ceremo-
nial and communal life of the different races dwelling in Gujarat, w^ho are
for all other purposes Gujaratis in speech, language, and other common tra-
ditions of the land, principally in the mercantile occupation, and can easily
be marked out from those of other provinces of India.

The Islamic Missionaries who came over Gujarat started their work
of conver.sion by persuasion. Saiyad Yusuf had first converted Hindu
Luhanas in the 15th Century from Sindh. Tbc.se ‘ Memons ^ thence spread
over Kaccha and Saurastra. The others who were called Khojas or * Kwajas ’
honourable converts ’) of the Ismailiya sect have a similar history of con-
version. One Nura Satagar was .sent to Gujarat in 1001 A. D. whose full
name was Nuruddin and ‘Sadguru’ — a good preceptor- -con opted into
‘ Satagar \ One Sadrudin, an intelligent disciple of his, .studied the Hindu
religion and in a purely missionary spirit managed to cloak his views from
the masses, and .started his teachings by accepting and incorporating a good
deal from the people’s beliefs. He even did not feel any scruples while
securing his end to preach against his own religion as the following lines
show: “Masjids, he (the future Guru) will demolish and erect Dharmasalas
in their stead !”** • *

He even took the help of the Hindu belief of incarnations and declared
that, among the ten Avataras, Hazrat Ali will be the tenth ‘ avatara popu-
larly known as * Kalki This trick on the credulity of the ignorant masses,
mostly of the Sudra class, worked successfully. As "Bhajans’ — religiou.s
songs — were the common forms of poetry, which were mostly composed in

88. Vide, The Ulamie Missionaries in Guiarat, K. M. Jhaveri, 5th Gujarati Sahitya
Parishad, Surat, (1915).

254

CULTUBAL mSTOBY OF GIUABAT

the middle ages of religious environment, the same instrument was availed
of by these missionaries to couch their teachings; and the language used
was such as the men at the lower strata of the society could at once follow
This was thus a counter-movement at preaching the common basis and
common-ground of the two rival dogmas of Islam and Hinduism. Thus was
preached the monotheism of Nura Satagar through ‘Bhajans’ like : “Do you
worship at the temple of the heart, where sits God with doors thrown open ?
If the Saints would look inwardly, they would find their own self, within
and without; for He dwells in all and is seen by all; though He is far away
from one, who has no eyes to see.

The Pirana sect which has its followers both among the Hindus and
Mahomedans has got its name from the village of Pirana, ten miles south-east
of Ahmedabad. It is said that Imam Shah, a Shiah Islamia Saiyad, converted
many Hindus of the Kanbi caste early in the 16th century by showing them
miraculous powers of his faith. By bringing rain after two seasons of scarcity.
Imam Shah was able to convert a large body of Hindu cultivators. Another
story is that while a band of pilgrims going to bathe in Ganges passed by
Pirana, Imam Shah performed a miracle by bringing Ganges water at hi®
place, being astounded at which, they adopted him as their spiritual head.
Those who were actually converted came to be known as ‘Monind’ (from
‘ Momin ’ — ^believers) , while those not actually converted but following a half-
Hindu, half-Musalman faith, came to be known as 'Matid’, (from Sanskrit
rnata, opinion). They keep Ramjan fast and observe as holidays the Drasa,
a Saint’s day. Besides the Musalman holidays these Momnas and Matias
observe the Hindu holidays of Holi, Akhatrija, Baleva and Divali. In addi-
tion to the Musalman ‘Nikah’ ceremony they call a Brahmin and go through
a Hindu marriage-ceremony. Still they are strict vegetarians and do not
use asafaetida, garlic and onions. They are called ‘ Satpantliis' and their
sacred book is a collection of religious precepts called ‘ Siksd Patrl ’ made by
Imam Shah, the saint of Pirana. Of course, they bury their dead. Since
the preachings of a Ramanandl Sadhu Nirmaldas in 1880, who reminded
them of their Hindu Kanbi origin, a Schism has been created, the Hindu-
ised being called ‘Vaisnava Matias’.

From among the Voras, both Daudi*and Sulemani, who were forcibly
converted during the religious persecution wave in Gujarat, they follow

aw ^ ftwii anv ferc.
fR: ajRr ^

aipl qa tjr fegal, ^ sj^, ”

THE SEUeiOOS FACTOB8 : BEUGIOU8 tNSTmmONS

255

Hazarat Shah Kayatnuddia Bava Chist!, whose Mausoleum is in EkalbfirS
on the banks of Mahl river. The Hindu followers of the successors of this
preacher have composed ‘Bhajans’ or 'Kaldms’ eulogising their preceptors.
This literature was first published in the pages of * Sahitya Monthly ’ by Rio
Bahadur Hargovinddas Kantiwala. Among these converts is found one
Ratanbai, an illiterate woman whose Kalams are said to have been composed
about 150 years ago.

To attempt to say, from what has gone before in this section, that
Hindu society remained absolutely unchanged even though it was in
contact with the Mahomedans, is to forget history and ignore social laws. It
was impossible that any two unlike societies in contact with each other
can remain totally unaffected. By long contact the Hindu and the Maho-
medan had learned to tolerate each other. The one had relaxed his ortho*
doxy a little and the other his fanaticism. The Hindus of the lower classes
and mostly villagers were worshipping Pirs and giving suitable offerings
to them” : as if the 33 crores of Hindu Gods did not satisfy their fancy !

IX. Eclecticism

Hinduism accepted the multiplicity of aboriginal gods, which originat-
ed from outside the Aryan tradition, and justified them all. It brought to-
gether into one whole all believers in god. Many sects professing many
different beliefs live within the Hindu fold. Heresy-hunting, the favourite
game of many religions, is singularly absent in Hinduism. The main note
of Hinduism is one of respect and good will for other creeds. When a
worshipper of Visnu had a feeling in his heart against a worshipper of Siva
and he bowed before the image of Vignu, the face of the image divided itself
in half and Siva appeared on one side and Vi^nu on the other; the two
smiling, as one face on the bigoted worshipper, told him that Visnu and Siva
were one.® The story is significant.

90. Dayaram’s “ Prdbodha-b&vanl " a poem of 52 stanzas of Kv.rj,4aUa metre utilizes
the hybrid religions stat^ of Mumna-s as an illustration of a hypocrite, who is
neither worldly-wise nor wisely worldly—

« ajvRia ^r, silf flj *051551 if!..

91. Samalbhat, who was living close to Pirapa village, wrote from personal kno\v-
ledg.' at one place :

“5 SIR 4lTI“t

92. “ 5l*ra?J ^ 3t li.

an&r ^1?:

^ snft Ir, 5W*i ^ ”

256

CULTURAL HISTORY OF GUJARAT

Worshippers ol different gods and followers of different rites were
taken into the Hindu fold. K|:i^na, according to Bhagvadgltd, accepts as His
own, not only the oppressed classes, women and Sudras, but even those of
unclean descent Kirdtas and the Hinas, Many modem

sects, beginning with Caitanya, the Radhavallabhis, the Kabir-panthis, Valla-
bhacarls, the Brahmos and the Arya Samajists accepted outsiders. Religious
toleration is the theme of one of Asoka’s rock-edicts (12th Rock Edict): ‘‘The
King beloved of the gods, honours every form of religious faith, but considers
no gift or honour so much as increase of the substance of religion; whereof
this is the root, to reverence one’s own faith and never to revile that of
others. Whoever acts differently injures his own religion, while he wrongs
another’s”. The Hindu and the Buddhistic rulers of India acted up to this
principle with the result that the persecuted and the persecutors of all reli-
gions found shelter in India. The Jews, the Christians, the Parsis were
allowed absolute freedom to develop on their own lines.

The clash of cult and the contact of cultures do not, as a rule, result in
a complete domination of the one by the other. The emotional attitudes
attached to the old forms are transferred to the new, which are fitted into the
background of the old. Many tribes and races had mystic animals; and when
these tribes entered the Hindu society, the animals which followed them
were made vehicles (vdhanas) and companions of God. One of them is
mounted on a peacock, another on the swan, a third is carried by a bull and
a fourth by the goat. The enlistment of Hanuman in the service of Rama
signifies the meeting-point of early nature-worship and later theism. The
dancing of Krsna on Kaliya’s head represents the subordination, if not the
displacement, of serpent-worship. Rama’s breaking of the bow of Siva
signifies the conflict between the Vedic Ideal and the Cult of Siva who
soon became the God of the South There are other stories in

the Epic literature indicating the reconciliation of the Vedic and the non-
Vedic faiths. The heroised ancestors, the local saints, the planetary influ-
ences and the tribal God, were admitted into the Hindu pantheon, though
they were all subordinated to the one supreme reality^ of which they were
regarded as aspects. The polytheism was organised in a monistic way.

Chapter VIII

THE AESTHETIC FACTOR : ARTS OF PLEASURE

I. Food

Gujarat, being the strong-hold of Jainism since the beginning of the
second millenium, the doctrine of Ahimsa had worked an appreciable change
as regards food and drink of the Gujaratis. Still, however, animal food is
used by Rajaputs, aborigines and low class Hindus. Among the flesh-eaters
and those who used liquors may be mentioned Bhatias and Luh§nas driven
to Sindh, Rabaris in Saurastra, Golas, Mods (now abstainers). Dhobis and
barbers (the Masuria section) . Vegetarianism is, however, slack in Southern
Gujarat among the artisan class — Luhars, Kurhbhars, Dhobis, Kharvas and
others. This is perhaps due to the fact that Jainism did not spread so widely
in Southern Gujarat; and, moreover, the daily contact of the aboriginal
‘ Kali Paraj ’ and Bhil classes affected their dietary.

The social change which came over Gujarat is thus best instanced by
the questions of food and drink. The Sastras forbid the use of brinjals as
food in certain seasons. Nevertheless, Hindus of all castes have taken to the
brinjal as a dainty article of diet; and there is humour in the social change
embodied in the popular saying : “ The brinjals of the Sastras are not the
brinjals of the market. Leave the former; and eat the latter.” (Cf. the
Gujarati proverb qttftjTPn ffiwi). Many think that orthodox Hindus hate
onions because of their smell. The religious prejudice against onions began
when the Mahomedans imported them as an article of diet. Hence it is
known as ’ (Mleccha kanda). But the prejudice has considerably

waned with time. Still, however, Krsnaram, who wrote just when English
influence was beginning to be felt in Gujarat, bewails the laxity shown by
the people of the higher caste in the use of onions, garlic, the Mahuda flower,
gajar, opium, tobacco, tanabdbindica and other stimulants.' Dayaram refers
to the outward formalisms of a Vaisnava who has every objection to the
use of garlic, but has no scruples to take bribes, a greater sin.’

1. Cf. Krsuaram : “ <15^ sgui Jigjsq %

3?iW tmif W, SRW W.”

2. Cf. DaySrim : “ «a<ii jjfl, iR :

irg cFl JRW % ^ ”

IT

258

CULTURAL HISTORY OF GUJARAT

We need not detain the reader in recounting the varieties of Gujarit
Cookery and the different delicacies called (thirty-two varieties of

dishes) in the stories of Samal Bhatt. Premanand, also, has given a toler-
ably complete list of these varieties while describing the * iSraddha feast of
Narsimha Mehta’s father Among some of the favourite dishes may be
mentioned as being popular among the Jainas and the Vai$navas.‘

It is interesting to note that a Pars! contemporary of Premanand,
Erward Rustom Peshotan, has given in his Siyawak^a Nameh (A. D. 1680)
a description of a Persian banquet which is more like the description of a
Gujarati Hindu’s dinner than of one partaken by a follower of Zarathrusht
in pre-historic Iran. The dishes described go to show an assimilation of
Hindu manners and customs in the life of his characters.’

A representative list of certain rich items generally served at a
feast is found in the Vilasavatikathd by Sadharanahka Suri in Samvat
1123 composed in Apabhramsa, which may be taken to be the items
of food of the middle classes of Gujarat during the period.’ It is be-
lieved that the Marathas introduced certain dishes such as
Slf, 3OT "Ttoi) and The Mahomedan contact too introduced and

<41 { 1 ^ 1 ^ and other varieties in certain dishes.''

II. Dress

Perhaps the most striking illustrations of the control of tastes by
standards evolved by the group are to be drawn from the succession of

3. Cf ; ‘fw *•!’ i Krsnaram.

4. Vide, Milestones in Guj. Lit., p. 146, on which is reproduced the piece as
given here

^ IWR II

^ 53Jf I

Jirem <1^ trei, i3rn*ri ^si u

5ir® 519 5ret *i0^t 31^, sn® 9 5N1 I
SR ^ 31xlf^ vn ^ 8iM.ll ”

5. Vide, Introduction to * Apabhramsa KavyatrayV by Lalacandra Pa^^it, G. O. Series
No, XXXVIl : the following words, which can be identified are woi th noting

8R5;-«ni5i; gRf

JRlft 519; >11^9; ’J®firS5-iTl95g; 533®,

3m; 9sfil>3-9|5#; 9^; 5f39 fjt.”

6. Vide, K. M. Jhaveri : “ ggORR il4t 5<5nfwr ” in Currents in Mediaeval
Gujarati Literature (1927).

THE ESTHETIC FACTOR: ARTS OF PLEASURE

259

fashions in dress. No modern man would venture to appear on street with
a costume of sixteenth century. Social experience shows that a man can do
his worldly business with less distraction in a conventional male attire with
least reference to form and colour. ' Women, on the other band, are engaged
in cultivating a different point of contact with the social world and their
costumes are accordingly of a different type.

What is true of architecture and all the arts is also true of dress. It
is said in the Upanisad that, '^Wealth is dear to us not because we desire the
fact of wealth itself, but because we desire ourselves.** This means that we
feel ourselves in our wealth and therefore we love it. The things which
rouse our emotions arouse our own self-feeling. How utility and sentiment
take different lines in expression can be seen in the dress of a man compared
with that of a woman.

A man’s dress, as a rule, shows all that is necessary and not merely
decorative. But a woman has naturally selected the decorative, not only in
her dress but in her manners also. She has to be picturesque and musical to
make manifest what is more concrete and personal than man. She is not
to be judged merely by her usefulness but by her delightfulness. Therefore,
she takes infinite care in expressing, not her profession, but her personality.’

Dress in Gujarat can be comprised within a few typical forms^
Fashion, which in Europe is so frequently variable and occupies itself with
line and colour, is in Gujarat far more stable and persistent. Fashion
exists, of course, in every land where women live and grow; and also it
changes. But it busies itself rather with what may be called the accidents than
with the essentials of attire. In the choice of colour, the women of Gujarat
display a rich variety; and selection, though less subject to sudden and violent
alteration, is governed by those moods of temperament which are generalised
under the name of ‘fashion’. No less operative upon the designs of jewellery
and the choice of gems to be set in gold is the changing temperament.
Even in respect of the texture which women choose for their clothes, there are
collective changes of mood and mode to be noticed. But in point of dress and
adornment, as in othgr acti^ties, in Gujarat there is a governance by autho-
rity and a quasi-religious sanction which is foreign to the strongly indivi-
dualistic tempers of the West. The shapes, and to some extent the colours, of
dress and the design and manner of wearing jewellery are amongst those dis-
tinctive marks of social rank and ceremonial purity, in a word, of caste,
which are guarded jealously, as if almosit sacred. It is only in the additions
and embellishments permitted upon the normal habits of the caste, that

7. Tagore, on “ What it Art ?

260

CULTURAL HISTORY OF GUJARAT

the human personality finds room for self-display. A woman must, first
of all, make her dress conform to the approved habits of her class. That
done she is free to express her own tastes and talents within the range of
such permissible colours and superfluous ornaments as do not alter the
essential lines of her costume.

The interest of dress centres mainly upon the human psychology of
which it is one among many other expressions. Dress regarded as form and
colour only, has no doubt its own value to the painter. Like every arrange-
ment in which selected hues or lines are grouped for the creation of a new
beauty, it has an emotional appeal apart from its meaning or history. The
uses of drapery in sculpture and sensuous pleasures given by rich velvets
and gold brocades in some of the paintings are instances of the fascination of
clothes, merely on their decorative side. But an intenser interest comes to
being when dress is known to be also the expression of a character that, in
one sense, may be called ‘individuar, but may with more reality be regarded
as part of a vast national life.

Dress is a means selected to heighten the attraction of the sexes for
each other. The use of clothes as a protection against the extremes of
climate is merely secondary and is even something of a reproach to natural
adaptation. That dress comes to be used incidentally to preserve modesty,
does not affect its primary purpose. Dress and ornament are so designed as
to combine their direct, and under the guise of modesty their indirect, attrac-
tions. If the dress did not conform to some inbred desire in those who see
it, it could have no power to please; even it might become repellent. It
responds, therefore, to the psychology of the people in whom it is found.

Looked at from these aspects, the fundamental difference between the
costumes and ornaments of Marwari, of Saurastri, of Gujarati and of
Maharastri women, becomes at once more deeply significant. Symmetry and
simplicity were conceptions beyond the brains and outside the temperaments
of Marwari women and women of the aboriginal classes. What these women
sought always, and with a great effectiveness achieved, was a shape, or rather
a conglomeration of shapes, complicated and exaggerated, with a heap of
bangles and anklets that seemed curious, awful, and bizslrre. They never
sought to soothe the mind. These women, if they were to excite the desires
of men equally unrefined in their tastes, had to take their attention by
storm, with the aid of the fantastic and unexpected in their costume. With-
out the subtlety of imagination and fineness to excel by a fine harmony or
graceful nicety, they were forced upon the extravagant and the exuberant.
The lines of their dress were not designed to be congruous with the human
body or to agree in beautiful drapery, but were meant rather to amaze the

THE JCSTHBTtC r ACTOR : ARTS OF FUCASURE

261

onlooker by a sudden onslaught upon his vision/ At any cost, they were to
be effective to produce an immediate effect by the strangeness and extra-
vagance of their form.

In regard to colour they had less invention and hardly any taste; and
the dry and sandy deserts of Rajputana or the hilly tracts of the southern
Maratha country were not suited to richer colours. So it is that yellow,
red, and green are the bold and glaring colours to which they had recourse.
However mitigated, these are characteristics that remain to this day.
Even in modern times, the lines tend to be abrupt and exaggerated; and an
everchanging fashion varies them in a discordant manner.

Gujarati dress, on the other hand, has this in common with the classic
style, that it is simple in form and harmonious. It exacts no distractions or
deformities. It veils the body but does not misrepresent it. While it ap-
proves a natural simplicity of design, it delights in a profusion of extraneous
ornament. The Gujarati woman wears dresses that in shape are easy and
simple and beautiful, but she seeks further to attract by a marvellous vari-
ety of colour and a curious adornment." Among Hindu women the dress
consists of three pieces only, never more, though they may be only two.
These are a skirt, a bodice, and a mantle."* The ‘skirt’ (called because

it reaches the ig^-deg) is not very different from the ‘petticoat’ of Europe in
cut, but may either drop simply or be made up in accordion pleats, something
as a kilt is pleated, so cut as to stand out a considerable way at the ankle.
The latter shape, worn mainly by the women of Marwar, of Kathiawar, and
the Bharwad, Rabari or Gujjar type of females, — in painting invariably given
to Radha and the loves of the god Kf ^na,— is most beautiful with its brush
and swing. The skirt is fastened plainly by a silken cord tied fast at the
waist and is sometimes girdled by a silver belt.

8. An illustration from a song may be given of this type ; —

“ =^'r, rW :

9. For a beautiful variety of sets of dress and ornaments accompanying either
red, black, green, yellow or white colour, see the exquisite description given by
Narsiihha Mehtg; Vide, Collected Work*, p. 605, Pada beginning with :

“ not tllTI "

10. Cf ; Nanalal : “#olt, : '

fit: :

efect «3SII^ giro— .Vjwt ^ ^ 1

262

CULTUBAL HISTORY 07 OUJABAT

The Gujarati ' Bodice ’ is designed in the main to support the breast
(something like the of the Sanskpt poetry) whose form it defines and

even by its pattern accentuates. It may either fit all round the person, fas-
tening in front by buttons or a ribbon, or be a covering for the chest only,
put on from the front and tied across the open back by two tapes.” The
bodices of the KathiawadI females are specially remarkable. Their bodice, in
no real sense, fulfils its part; but is rather a bright-decked screen dropping
from the neck to just below the waist-line, stiffened with pieces of glass and
thick stitching.” The mantle, which they adopt, unlike that of most Hindu
women, is short (like that of the Mussalman) , but coarser.

The most distinctive feature of all women is certainly the glorious
drapery or the ‘Sari ’ — an oblong of material, hemmed when possible at one
side with gold embroidery (Cf : tlleg'd' SBtJJS and edged with a sort of
closed fringe. The hues and patterns of these “Saris” have an infinite range.
Some are in plain natural colours, white, or red, or blue — others are delicate
cotton-prints, flowered and spriggled and dainty. Sometimes they are
printed in a bold decorative design, formal and conventional. But in drap-
ing of the sdri consists the highest art and the true expression of personality.
One end is taken round the waist a couple of times and tucked into the
waistband at the centre, falling to the feet in formal folds : the other passes
over head and shoulder with the breadth decorated and displayed across the
upper half of the body. In the management of the upper half lies the true
secret. It must show the full beauty of the cloth, yet by a sort of innocent
accident, without a hint of ostentation. At the same time, it must be loose
enough to allow graceful folds to drop naturally from the head to the
shoulders, and tight enough to sit close at the breast whose curves it accen-
tuates while it seems to veil.

11. Cf : Prof. Narasiihharao : Smarar^a-Mukura, p. 62.

“ V. sniT^t ^ R# wfh ^

Slit iOT#. wgig 3?r(»t, v,

Bi5t b; 0m ^ ^.155 f g. eiwri

wsn sr, ^ ‘ ^ si mtiia

«mi3 sr 0^, mm 3^ ura k

^ ^ sitr.'?— ‘amm %s!im gsrtnrift

sinrSt ws. gf^ ’, ?.

12. " Kathiawacl embroidery, whether of dresses, blankets, of wall and door-cover-

ings, or of table-cloths, is such that no merchant or prince need ever go out-
side his state for decoration of city, home or palace. The sense ani love of
colour visible in the bodices, the shawls with their unique stamped patterns
and the bits of inserted glass, shows an artistic tradition of which ary nation
might be proud.” — ** Impressions of Kathiawad ** byL,B. Elmhirst in Vfivo-
Bharati Quarterly^ April, 1924.

THE OSTHETIC EACTOB ; ARTS OF PLEASQBE

m

Enough, but not too much, of the bodice must be shown with a fine
nicety. In a stray verse reproduced below, the poet has preferred to. ex-
press his opinion as to the importance of ‘expression’ in language and the idea
to be expressed, by an illustration from the style of draping bodice in
different countries”. “The ‘meaning’ should not be too much explicit as are
the breasts of Andhra women, nor should it be too much deep or covered over,
as are those of the Gurjara ladies. It should be partly distinct and partly
suggestive from language, as are the breasts of Mahara^trl women.” The
style of completely covering the front parts, however, suggests modesty among
Gujarati women.

While recounting the special points of attraction in the ladies of vari-
ous provinces in India the poet refers to the breasts of Gurjara ladies which
excite love.“ In the South of Gujarat, where from the steamy warmth
of the climate or from some subtle change of mood, or due to hilly nature of
the earth, the Sari is so draped as to be caught between the legs in a
broad, low-hanging fold, tucked loosely at the back. Its folds are carefully
arranged to leave a double thickness, marked by the border of the mantle,
over the upper part of the legs.

It is, probably, a style inherited from a remote antiquity, descendant
from the dresses seen even in Buddhist carvings in the great rock-temples of
the Deccan. The pressure of the ascetic ideal is rather shown more strongly
in the monotonous colours, dark hlue usually or dark green, which are the
ordinary wear in those parts of the country. This contrast in dress between
the Southern part of Gujarat and its Central and Northern parts reflects,
perhaps, that contrast in belief and character. Thd monotony of asceticism
is even more noticeable in the South in the dress of widows — a dress of
mantle only, white, or of a strange dull, dingy red — a dress that kills all
looks and attractions, save where the light of religious duty makes the
starved face seem spiritual.

Dress, even in its simplest form, has been seen to have its sectarian mean-
ing and restrictions. A widow is limited to certain solid colours, black” or

13. wif?RTO*Jr«BT^ •

^ wifron fiPiis: i

»w PTrmfqfcm

I '

15. Cf. MirSbai refers to a widow's gown as contrasted to a mantle of a married
woman, whose husband is alive

264

CVLTUBAL mSTOBY OF QUJABAT

dark blue, red or white; and hence, black colour has been considered cnninous.
A finer taste prevails in society, when the modes and fashions of dress and
ornament change, when odd and antiquated is supplemented by novel and
simple. It is a curiosity of literature that Prof. K. H. Dhruva has written
a “Polled Poccisi" in the last decade of the previous century in ‘Buddhi
Prakasa ’, which has the change in the fashion of dress and ornament under
British influence as its theme. Some of these lines are reproduced below. “
A well-known couplet betrays the old relations of Gujarat with Marwid
and Rajputana, in matters even of dress; and it describes the heavy petticoat
with numerous folds reaching to the ankles and the silken bodice, remark-
ably tight and fitting. "

Costumes in ‘ Vasanta Vildsa ’ (an illustrated poem called * Dalliance
in Spring’, copied in 1450 A. D.) have reference only to Gujarat of the fif-
teenth century; and they must, therefore, be regarded as typical only of
Western India.'" Men wore dhoti reaching upto the ankles with a short
scarf thrown across the shoulders, leaving the upper-half of the body uncov-
ered. In an animated panel illustrating a hunting episode a man is shown
in dhoti only upto the knees, with scarf across the shoulders. He is bare-
headed and carries a quiver of arrows by his side and is seen in pursuit of a
buck and a doe. This dress appears to have been the typical Hindu male
attire for at least the past two thousand years. There have been only minor
varieties in the male outfit during the slow march of centuries.

“ ^ ^ ‘t, ^ In :

Cf. also ‘

fie 35IIY, :

a?i> fpurt ! ”

16. “ ^

^ : #1 #1151011 ^ ,

f# an??®! 51

#^'8l ^ : #t #fmi tii qiesBT— •

eqq^ 5i

#fe^ 5«t #®T.i 5ft ^ ; #t #fR0lf 511 ^T— ”

17. Cf. Eiiq^l, TO5T3<t :

3w®a5 «srTi, w 3 Ni^«— ^ 1 it

‘ ‘ ’—Prof. N. B. Divafia ; ‘ Smarar^a Mukura.

18. N. C. Mehta : A Further Essay on Vasanta Vildsa (1931)^ ,

THE ASTRETIC FACTOR : ARTS OF FtBASURB

265

The pyjdmd appears to have been wholly unknown, as also the turban
(a debased form of mukuta or mauli, the head-dress) which came into fash*
ion with the advent of the Mughals, half a century later, and was adopted by
Indian aristocracy, Hindu and Musalman, as the national costume at least
in the courts of Northern India and Rajputana.

The headgear usually employed is a kind of peaked cap or 'mukuta ’
which degenerated later into the hideous cap of the present day. Men wore
a pair of bracelets, sometimes as many as six on each arm, with a golden band
just above the right elbow. All the men without exception, bore the Vai^nava
tilaka on the forehead — two straight lines with or without a connecting
bridge at the bottom. The invariable presence of this Vai§pavite symbol
testifies to the great resurgence of the popular cult of Bhakti or devotion,
which swept through the country during the fifteenth and the sixteenth
centuries, and the echoes of which can still be heard amidst the clash and
conflict of our modern life.

It will be noticed that the fifteenth century male costume differs but
little from that in vogue during the period of Ajanta paintings. Important
personages (such as Avalokitesvara in the famous Ajanta masterpiece) wore
dhoti reaching to the knees and a mukuta with the portion of the body above
the waist bare. The mukuta only had changed, becoming less elaborate,
and, let it be said, more ugly, till it became a mere travesty of a dignified
headgear during the nineteenth century.

While the male costume appears to have followed a stereotyped
design for centuries, feminine draperies have been subject to radical change
of fashion. The ‘ 5dn ’ typical of modern Gujarat was not known to the
artists of ‘ Vasanta Vildsa ’. The women wore a long gaily coloured scarf
broadest at the ends coming down from the shoulders and hanging loose
below the knees. The lower portion of the body was wrapped in a -different
coloured dhoti much in the same way as is done at the present day in Bengal
and the United Provinces. The skirt seerns to have been unknown.

A tight-fitting bodice or choli, covering the bust almost down to the
waist, a little above the na\«l, and covering the arms upto the elbows was in
vogue. The arms were practically loaded with bangles; and a variety of
necklaces — chains of gold and garlands of flowers, hanging down the waist
adorned the neck. Men and women decorated the ears with karna'phoola
(large circular ear-rings) and both put the Vaisnavite symbol on the fore-
head. The circular red mark between the eye-brows, characteristic of all
married Hindu women of today whose husbands are alive, appears to have
been sometimes substituted in place of the customary lines of religious
symbolism.

266

CULTURAI. HISTORY OF GUJARAT

The elaborate and magnificent coiffures noticed at Ajanta and
Bagh seem to have completely disappeared; and the Gujarati ladies of the
fifteenth century contented themselves by wearing their hair loose and tying
them into elaborate knots coming down below the waist and sometimes even
reaching upto the knees (‘^TTWi^lT %d’).

The Mahomedan contact introduced a taste for fine, light and delicate
attire such as jdmfi, dagldj pahiran, ijdr, pdyajdmd, and other fashions of dress
and objects of luxury,’”

HI. Ornaments

The origin of ornaments is the desire to adorn one’s person with some
attractive objects. Trophies of gold, silver or other metallic imitation
were originally worn by the warrior class. Gradually their metallic
representations lost their semblance or original purpose and came to be
worn as marks of honour, by the whole populace. These were later modified
into decorative objects. Rings in noses**” or ears or around the neck, cr on
wrist, or anklets — ‘originally badges of slavery’^ — are now retained as
ornaments all the world over. The nose-ring (Burakho) is sometimes a sign
of dedication of the wearer to some god. The desire for display is also an-
other origin of decorations and costumes. At first confined to the upper
classes, it diffuses like fashion in our times through all the lower classes
of people. The privilege of the higher classes thus came to be encroached
upon by the common people, and the distinguishing social restraints largely
disappeared.

Bhil women are fond, like all savages, of adornment; and layer upon
layer of glass beads, dark blue, white and crimson, lie heavy over their necks
and breasts. Heavy bands of brass circle the leg from knee to instep, and
clash and tinkle as they move. The use of jewellery has a religious tinge
among Hindus. It is for instance a common belief that at least a speck of
gold must be worn upon the person to ensure ceremonial purity. The “six-
teen ornaments” complete the set of a woman’s^ decoration.^'^ We read of

19. Cf. Kri§ijaram, who criticises the publicUaste for Mahomedan fashions of

dress in hiS * Kalikdlano Garabo' : *5'^ 55p^, STPU ’

20. Cf. Narsiiiihrao Divatia’s paper on “ The nose-ornament J. A. S. B. Vol. XVIII,
iii.

21. Cf. The foot-ornaments symbolise the girrs passing under the lordship of
her husband. — Bom. Gaz., IX, ii, p. 232.

22. Vide, Mrs. Caitanyabala Majmudar's Paper on ** Laliia Kald*\ VII GuJarSti
Sahitya Pari?ad Proceedings f 1924).

THE AESTHETIC FACTOR: ARTS OP PLEASURE

267

this list in songs and poems. Variety there is, and indeed, the number
of ornaments each with its different name and use is almost bewildering;
still there is little change in design; because in each kiiid the design passes
from one generation to another almost unchanged, and the craftsmen had
no need to devise new forms and varying settings. What had been worn by
the grand-mother will be equally pleasing to the grand-daughter.

The bracelet is the most significant, and the nose-ring the most
peculiar, of Indian ornaments; for bracelets are above all the visible sign of
marriage.” Ivory is generally used for such purposes; though Jaina ladies
use Sesum wood for the purpose, because of their religious prejudices.
Bangles made of lac are peculiar to married women, and next to them in
significance are the bangles of variegated glass. The use of ‘ Sahkha-valaya ’
— conch-shell bangles — is very old.

The ‘ nose-ring ’ is only seldom in the shape of a ring. In Northern
India, in certain castes, a real ring of a large diameter passes through the
cartilage and its effect is not beautiful. But in most places and classes, it is
not so much a ring as a small cluster of gems affixed by one means or another
to the nostril that is worn most commonly — a sort of a brooch with a large,
almost triangular setting — and is also clumsy and otherwise than beautiful.”
Another type worn by the cultivators of Gujarat is like a button in which
the jewelled top screens through a hole in the nostril, into the lower half.
The prettiest of all is a small stud of a single diamond or ruby fixed almost
at the corner of the left nostril.

While the nose-ring, which appears to have been a Muslim innovation,
was imknown, women wore a diamond or a pearl as nose-drop. Women of
lower classes went about bare-headed and the mukuta appears to have been
a monopoly of feminine aristocracy.

Women are often shown as carrying flowers and also a sort of a
— a long stringed instrument — hung on a bamboo frame without the sounding

s. nviRT ^ ^ qjr, ^ *11^,

> SR iw ^lORfc JFnsii fwrar

siir > wm, > ifi=4r,

.wa, »i5t ^ tR #3 ^«Ti< 0 . ”

23. Cf. : Premfinanda's Suddmo Carita : Sud Sima’s poor wife had a single bangle
on each hand as a sign of her husband being alive :

24. Narsiihha Mehta refers to one 'Nathaij.i’ made up of .several pcarl.s, passing

through a gold thread (“ *3! etc.), which could wav*'

to and fro Perhaps he refers to one that was in vogue in

Vrndivana, Krspa’s home in childhood.

268

CULTURAL HISTORY OT GUJARAT

gourd with an axe-shaped decoration at one end. Both men and women
wore anklets. The ancient girdle which is even now worn in rural Gujarit
is noticeably absent from the list of feminine ornaments.

In the lower strata of Gujarat and even probably among higher castes
‘tattooing’ seems to have been purely decorative, the parts of the body
tattooed being those exposed to view; the face, the centre of the forehead, the
space between the eyebrows, cheeks and chin; the arms below the elbow,
fingers, chests, breasts, and neck; and feet below the ankles. Such marks
are thought to be protective, when they represent symbols of the family or
the guardian deities. Butin other cases “they are curative, as tattooing
over a tumour is supposed to relieve it, and that on the belly to cure
colic.’’* But more generally they are meant to be decorations.®

The records of a by-gone life and civilization which lie buried with
the ornaments, especially of the ladies of the times, are noticed from the
ornaments* which had been secured from Sauras^ra. They were churis
and bangles made out of conch-shells of different sizes, patterns and work-
manship; the inner folds and rims and indentations of the conch-shell have
supplied the material to make these ornaments. The Sankhahharana or
conch-shell ornaments are described by Bana in his Kadambari ’ to have
added to the beauty of Mahasveta. Pieces of conch-shell bangles, rings
etc. are unearthed from many old sites in Gujarat since then.

There were the cowries also, which have later on become the favourite
decoration of Banzara women. A necklace with a pendant — ^the beads whereof
were made of conch-shell — was also an old relic; these conch-shell ornaments
with the cowries have ere long been out of fashion, and they are used only
among the wandering aboriginal people. Bullock-carts are, however, to this
day decked with trinkets made out of them, and the cowries for horses,
cows and bullocks in wider areas are not entirely out of fashion.

IV. Amusements

As early as the Mauryan period, we learn that village-concerts
(Samajas and Go$this) used to be arranged on occasrons of holidays and
festivities. Here, as in other aspects of village life, the villagers were

25. Baro^ Census Report, 1902.

26. Cf. : * Tattooings ’ on the face are known as : —

(i) “ ^ ?n#. *’

(ii) “ 5 sfl :

51 *11? >iRl ^ ” — *Tiwn.

27. Vide, Dr. H. H. Dhruva ; Baroda State Delegate to Vienna Oriental Conference,
1889, pages 108-U0.

THK iBSTHKnc FACTOR ; ARTS OF PUEASURS

actuated by a spirit of brotherhood, cooperation and mutual assistance. Not
to cooperate in and contribute for such vil]age>shows and dramas was re-
garded as a sin against society. Such shows and dramas were quite common
in this early period.” The actors in these concerts were either local ama-
teurs or outside professional men. Occasionally professional singers, dancers,
and actors used to visit villages in olden days.

We get a very faithful picture of the pleasures and pastimes of the
people in Gujarat from literature dealing with occasions like the enjoyments
of the ‘Pkdga ’ or the spring-festival, the ‘Hindol ’ in the month of iSravana
and the Navaratra and the Dival! holidays in the month of Asvin. The
subject-matter of the ‘ Vasanta-Vilasa ’ is the advent of spring, especially the
month of Phalguna. The love described is that of husband and wife, which
according to the poet 'has now increased threefold; for the spring has come
and Nature is fragrant and the sky cloudless '. The poet says : “The mango
is in bloom and the bees have been awakened by the smoke of the flaming
hearts of separated lovers. ” The emotional aspect of the Spring is made
out in a series of exceptionally powerful stanzas (duhas) full of brilliant
imagery, and vivid word-painting. The poet describes the preparation made
for enjoying the Spring. “The pleasure-ground has been decorated and
watered and the swing of the carhpaka flowers made ready with golden
chains.”” The perfumes which the ladies indulged in are referred to in
many songs.” The games of young girls are also mentioned in many play-
songs which they sing on festive occasions such as ‘ ’. It shows how the

girls were having an outdoor life and how they matured into healthy youths
by these games.™

It was under the Mahomedans that Gujarat learnt much of luxury
and pomp and a taste for refinement. Gardens, fountains, perfumes and all
possible luxuries were introduced into the land in imitation of the court."

28. They are called 'Prekyd ’ by Caijaky a and ‘ Somajtt ’ ly Asoka. The ‘Samaja’
consisted of dancing, singing and music, dramatic performances and acrobatic
feats.

• •

29. “

TO® hWI, ?l®. ”

30. Cf. : “ V’

31. Some of these games are known from this line :

“

32. Cf. : K. M. Jhaveri’s contribution in “Currents in Mediaeval Gujarati litera-
ture ”, p. 191, on ‘ gronsT ^ ’ :

270

CULTURAL HISTORY OF GUJARAT

It is said that a Khorasani is said to have introduced into Gujarat the kntnur*
ledge of fountains and artificial waterfalls.** Among the city-dw^rs in
Gujarat the Suratis and Jamnagaris (Cf,: SWW ^ ^

— Navalram) are generally more refined in taste as they indulged in all
possible luxuries."'

It appears that gardens and orchards were an important feature of
towns and cities in ancient Gujarat. We need not base this conclusion upon
the poetic description of our Prabandhas; there is ample other evidence.
For, as we have already seen, in many of our donatory grants, the granted
property consists of gardens situated either within the town or in its pre-
cincts. In fact, the presence of numerous temples and pious devotees,
inevitably entailed the laying out of numerous gardens. These gardens,
though originally intended, in most ca.ses, for the purposes of divine worship,
must have also incidentally served the purpose of human recreation. The
statement about Dasapura gardens clearly shows that some were definitely
reserved as places of public recreation."'

Temple was the centre of many village activities. It was there that
the children of the villagers assembled rooming and evening to learn the three
R’s. It was to the temple that the village litigants used to repair to get
their quarrels settled by the Pancayat. It was to the same place that the
way-worn traveller, reaching the village in the evening dusk, used to repair
for his nocturnal sojourn. It was in the temple precincts that the villagers
used to assemble in the evening for social talks and recreation. It was to
the same holy place that, in case of an epidemic, the villagers used to repair
all in a body, to pray to the deity for her grace to end the common calamity.

“ Jrai aiw 5(1. ^ tR, «n»i,

«pfNr, ’fKlRRl, ^ (1?1

=5itJa?ii smn, ?5 ik, qiqaijn nil

g'Kl'Jinft ^ ?rr5 jr 5l^g. |5 Rt, aipR'i sRsilnf ^

Taste 3M3I Refinement 5 ^ ^ siM Xani ”

33. Indian Antiquary, LXll, 5. ^ c

34. Navalram’s description of his own city-people, the Suratis :

“ urfB, ^ 5RKf : *.

#55T 5?^, 5TP3 ^ (n 3R zm <•,

tRtii t?Rn 5t 51^ gn w, 5 5IH ?— ij 51>? gsiti^ ”

35. D. C. Sircar’s Select Inscriptions :

aisranriiTai ll — Mandsor Inscription.

THE iBSTHSTlC FACTOE : ARTS OF PtSASURS

271

And it was the temple-hall where the religious sermons were delivered on the
days of religious sanctities and observances. Temple then has naturally
been an indispensable feature of our village communities.

Another source of recreation was the Fair (Mela), Fairs were more
numerous in the past; and they afforded opportunities for many-sided amuse-
ments. There were dancers, singers and actors, giving their performances;
there were wrestling-matches, bull-fights, cock-fights, ram-fights; there were
acrobatic feats and humdrum performances; the market contained many rare
articles which the villagers were anxious to purchase. Everybody, therefore,
thronged to the fair; even people from adjoining villages used to visit them
either for amusement or for business. There was also the pleasure of listen-
ing to a narration of an interesting episode either from the Epics or the
Puranas or from popular romances, all contributing to the mirth, recreation
and amusement of the people assembled, mostly at night when the day’s
fatigue was forgotten and each went home refreshed and delighted. Almost
all the fairs are held during the rainy season, and many in the month of
Sravana (July- August).

The Saurastra fairs are generally not held for trade but chiefly for
pilgrimage and in some cases for pleasure. Sweetmeats, cloth, trinkets, toys,
metal-pots and other articles are brought to these fairs by neighbouring petty
dealers who set up booths. Napoleon’s remark that the ‘ English were a
nation of shopkeepers’ would seem from the writings of Sir Thomas Munro
(who at that time was one of the British administrators in this country) to
have reached the Indian bazaars in those days and led people to remark
that the ‘ Indians, too, were a nation of shopkeepers *, because by creating
shops at every place of festival or pilgrimage they had made (to use Munro’s
words) “religion and trade sister-arts in India.”

The largest and most characteristic gatherings of Gujarat are on the
occasion of religious festivals. Thousands of men gather on the banks of the
Narmada or at other places where regular fairs are held on some fixed days
of the year. Hither men, women and children, rich and poor, flock from
town and village from hundreds of miles in the effort to wash away their
sins and to gain merit by giving money to holy men and beggars. Similar
festivals are held elsewhere, and every temple has its feast days, when the
people gather from the surrounding country.

V. Dramatic Shows

Amusements of different kinds are held in the villages during the
months when there is little field-work. Often people will come in from

272

CULTUBAli HISTORY OF GUJARAT

surrounding villages and hamlets. Dramatic performances are given by
travelling actors— Rasadharls and Ramalilawalas. In some places there are
less formal amusements, for example, singing and dancing by the yoimg men.
Wrestling matches and other contests between the representatives of rival
villages were held. It is worthwhile to look into the origin of dramatic per-
formances, which amused the masses of Gujarat during the middle ages,
after Sanskrt classical drama ceased to be staged under the patronage of
Hindu kings of Gujarat.

“The origin of the acted drama is, however, wrapt in obscurity,” says
Prof. Macdonell*; nevertheless the evidence of tradition and of language
suffice to direct us with considerable probability to its source. The words
for actor (Nata) and play (Ndtaka) are derived from the verb nat, the
Prakyt or vernacular form of the Sanskrit ‘nrt’ to dance. The name is
familiar to English ears in the form ‘ Nauch \ the Indian dancing of the pre-
sent day. The latter, indeed, probably represents the beginning of the
Indian drama. It must at first have consisted only of rude pantomime in
which the dancing, or movements of the body, was acccompanied by mute
mimicking gestures of hand and face. Songs, doubtless also early, formed
an ingredient in such performances. Thus ‘Bharata’, the name of the
mythical inventor of the drama, in Sanskrt also means an ‘ actor ’. The addi-
tion of dialogue was the last step in the development which was thus much
the same in India and in Greece. This primitive stage is represented by the
Bengal Ydtras and the Gitagovinda. These form the transition to the fully
developed Sanskit play in which lyrics and dialogues are blended. ‘ Ydtrd ’
originally meant a procession, such as those customary with the worship-
pers of Krsna in Bengal. But as a sort of lyrical drama was a regular
concomitant of such processions, these musical dramas in time were termed
‘ Ydtrds ’, and this continued even after they were no longer rigidly connected
with sacred ritual and temple precincts.”

Indian tradition describes Bharata having caused to be acted before
the gods a play representing the ‘Swayarhvara of Laksmi (wife of Vi§nu’).
Patanjali (200 B. C.) mentions representation ef the i‘ Slaying of Kariisa ’
(Kamsavadha) and the ‘ Binding of Bali ’ (Balihavdha) by Krsna. Tradi-
tion further makes Krsna and his cowherdesses the starting-point of the

36. History oj Sanskrt Literature, page 1,

37. Cf : ‘ Kanhadde Prabandha ’ (Sariivat 1512) where mention is made of TO^lf, siW
and <tPl, the popular forms of recreation prevalent in Gujarfit in the early
16th century ;

“ iim firs i ^ )

THE M»namc factor; arts or plsaburr

273

SaAgIta, a representation consisting of song, music and dancing. The Gita**
govinda is concerned with K^rsna; and the modern yatrds generally represent
scenes from the life of that deity. From all this ”, says Macdonell, ** it seems
likely that the Indian drama was developed in conxiectlon with the cult of
Vi^pu-Krsna, and that the earliest acted representations were> therefore^
like the * Mysteries’ of the Christian Middle Ages, a kind of religious {days
in which scenes from the legend of the god were enacted mainly with the aid
of song and dance, supplemented with prose-dialogue improvised by the
performers.”*

Rajasekhara (890-920 A.D.) introduced in the fifth act of the *B<dlardnid-
yam ’ two jointed Puppets, constructed by the mechanic Visarada, the best
pupil of Asura Maya. It is the only passage in the whole of Indian liter-
ature where Puppets appear on the stage in a Sanskrt drama. The Puppet-
player is called ' Sutradhara i. e, thread-holder, which corresponds to the
epithet * Sutradhara ^‘attached to thread”, applied to Puppets in the
Mahabharata; and Sutradhara is still the name for a Puppet-player in India
at the present day.*

The * Chaya-nataka ’ is not recognised as a dramatic form in Sanskrt
works on the drama, yet to this category belong at least seven dramas, chief
of these being ^Dutdnpada’ by poet Subhata at the court of Kumarapala.
This play was presented at a festival in honour of Kumarapaladcva, the parti-
cular event commemorated being the restoration by the king of a Siva
temple at Devapat1;an or Somanath in Saurastra, It was performed at the
Dhooly (Holi) festival, March 7, 1243 A. D.

The ' BhavdV or popular folk drama of Gujarat, which seems to be
the lineal descendant of an ancient primitive drama, is coarse and obscene.
It had in its beginning a religious origin meant to act the episodes from the
Devi’s exploits, narrated in the *Durgd Mdhdimya'; gradually it included
social satire. The * Bhavai ’ is usually performed in open spaces in streets
and the like. No stage is required, no scenery, only a poor curtain, occasion-
ally held by two men at each end; a few torches, and a chorus of two or three
men helped by musical instruments of a crude nature, such as one or two
brass-trumpets and cymbal^. The simple surroundings and paraphernalia of
the Bhavdi will remind one of the similar circumstances of the Burmese
drama. The performance in a Bhavai does not represent any coordinated
plot or story at all, but consists of a series of unconnected individual per-

38. A. A. Macdonnel, History of SanakTt Literature, p. 347 (1905).

39. Cf. CTCR’s lines :

^ 3 ?” etc.

IS

274

CVLTUBAL HISTOBT Of QVJABAt

sonations of one, or at the most two or three characters in each scene, either
presenting some popular episode of professional persons, e. g. an ill*nuitched
married couple, the tailor, the Borah, and the like. It consists consequently
of ‘monologues’ or ‘dialogues’ supported by the chorus reciting songs refer-
ring to the incidents represented, in singing which the actors also join. The
outstanding feature of Bhavai in later times was its obscenity. Rao Sabeb
Mahipatram tried his utmost to improve the actors of Bhavai, called Bhavaya
(who are Targalas or Bhojakas by caste formed in the 14th Century*) to
purge the performance of its indecency, but without success. This was
some himdred years ago. ‘Bhavai’ has now gradually receded from the
city into the remoter villages and is dying out rapidly. In the case of two
of the Bhavais the names of Akbar and Aurangzeb are mentioned, and
in ‘Mohana Rani’ the heroine is the Princess Mohana of Ahmadnagiff, the
well-known city in the Deccan. Samalbhatt many times refers to Bhavai
during the narration of his metrical romances, like ‘3ukasaptati’.

Rasadharis’ performance in Vrajabhasa used to be frequent even in
Gujarat over sixty years ago, the actors came from the province about
Mathura, belonged to the Vallabhacarya’s Vaiispava sect, and performed
episodes from the life of Bala Kr^pa.

There is a Svetaihbarl Jaina Sansk^ drama ‘Mudrita Kumuda Candra’
in which Kumuda Candra, a Digambara Acarya from the Karpataka is
represented as defeated in a disputation by the igvetambara Acaryas of
Gujarat, in the 12th Century. The drama ‘ Pdnjdta-rnaff jart ’ vras acted at
Dhara before the Paramara king Arjun Varma. In Indian art there is a
tendency to devote pointed attention to the foreign and queer, as the Hindus
do in their national pageants. The man which the Hindu saw everyday,
namely, one like himself, did not interest the artist and his public so much
as the outlandish, the uncommon, the dwarf, the lion-rider, the snake-man,
the snake-woman, the Yaksa, the Abyssinian and the mischievous alien
races."

VI. Architecture

The fine Arts including, besides architecnire ar>d costume-designing,
pottery, metal-working, drawing, landscape painting, gardening, and a host
of others, all have histories which it would be illuminatirg for the student
of civilization to study. They all reveal the inner nature of man' in the

40. Vide, Jaya Sahkar Sundari’s paper, ' Rartga BMmi Parifad Proceedinpt’, 1940 :
(Ahmedabrd).

41. Cf. Jfhlt 4141^ ^ in Bhavii-shows, where the Mahomedans whO' Vfere then
foreigners in the land are held in ridicule.

TBx sgaamc 7actob: abts or plbasdbs

275

struggle to master the outer world and at the same time to gratify his
own taste.' 'Hiey all show how each generation has based its actions and its
tastes on the experiences of its predecessors evolving thus a gradual accumu«
lation of standards which control the individual to a very pronounced
degree. For example, the periods of national architecture make it perfectly
evident that the individuals who designed temples, chtirches and other
public buildings in various countries and epochs did so not in response to
purely individual ideals but under the control of patterns handed down
from social experience.

Perhaps no branch of human culture reflects with greater exactitude
the progress or decadence of man than Architecture. In the progress of
Architecture from the most primitive types of human habitation to magni'*
ficent temples and palaces, we can discover the ceaseless effort of man to
express his social and religious environment and his attitude towards life.
In the development of Architecture we can also detect the aesthetic taste
which actuated man to combine beauty with utility. Ihe progress of Indian
Architecture from the primitive to the sophisticated was no exception to
this historical process.

Scattered throughout the length of Western India is found a great
and varied collection of ancient monuments — Buddhist, Jaina, Hindu, Maho-
medan — which with the later Portuguese, Dutch, Armenian and English
remains make up a goodly assortment. Stupas, caves and structural
temples, mosques, tombs, palaces, forts, churches, convents and graveyards
are all represented. Just as varied as these relics of the mason’s craft,
are the peoples, languages and religious beliefs which gave rise to them.

The architectural remains of Western India are, for facilities of study,
divided into four sections : (i) The Ancient Period upto 500 A. D.; (ii) The
Early Mediaeval Period from circa 500 A. D. to 1000 A. D.; (iii) The
Mediaeval Period from 1000 A. D. to 1300 A. D. and (iv) the late Mediaeval

Period including the Muslim monuments from 1300 to 1800 A. D.

• •

(i) Ancient Period : Upto 500 A. D. : The cave>temples in the several
lonely hills in the peninsula of Saura^tra stand as ihe earliest architectiural
remains. The Uparkot caves on Girnar are, however, found in or near
ancient passes and communications leading up from the plains or the sea-
board. The caves at Talaja, Sapa, Gop, phank and Khambhalida are fotuid
farther inland, cut in the sides of isolated hills and ranges. These rock-
temples and the monasteries and nunneries were purposely [removed from
the busy centres of population.

276

cavroBAS. msTovs or ovjarat

The Stflpas that have, up to the present, been found or uncovered in
Western India are of brick. The great Boria StQpa, discovered and exca-
vated in the jungles near Junagadh on Mount Girnar, had a solid biimt-
brick core. The one near the village of Sopara, 33 miles north of Bombay,
supposed to be the Ophir of King Solomon’s time, was first excavated by
Dr. Bhagvanlal Indraji, and was again excavated and laid bare sometime in
1940. The relics discovered from the Boria Stupa are exhibited in tixe
Jfinagadh Museum.

The Iptwa sealing of the Bhiki^u-sangha of early third century which
has a Caitya symbol is reported to be one of the earliest of this type in
ancient India, from the Brahml legend which reads ' Mahdrdja Rudrasena
Vihare Bhik^u Saihghasya'^ Samalaji Stupa of the 4th century A. D. has
already been referred to (supra, p. 205).

(ii) The Early Mediaeval Period : Fiom 500 A. D. to 1000 A. D. : For
very early structural temples we must turn to Saura^^i^a. Along the
southern shore of the peninsula and along the coast -line are found a few
old shrines like those of Kadvar, Bilesvara, Sutrapada, Visavada and {Than.
The best and the oldest example is that at Gop, in the Barda Hills. The
little arched niches upon the tower, with little heads in them, are but
miniature imitations of the great arched facadts of the cave-Caityas of the
Buddhists. The rest of the pre-Calukyan temples have an essential oneness
with some points of difference, which ultimately led to the full-fledged
Calukyan temple-style.

(iii) The Mediaeval Period : From 1000 A.D. to 1300 A. D. : One of the
richest and most prolific development of the Indo-Aryan or the Northern
style of Architecture prevailed in Western India during the interim of over
two and a half centuries between Mahmud Ghazni’s sack of Somanath in
A. D. 1025-26 and the conquest of this part of the country by Allauddin
Khilji of Delhi in A D. 1298. Mahmud's raid threw the whole of this country
into disorder; but soon after his retreat to GaznI, the inhabitants appear
to have soon recovered from the effects of the blow, and they started to
repair the temples that he had desecrated and despoiled. Then ensued a
period of comparative peace and prosperity in the Western region undtrthe
stable Solahki and Vaghela rule, one indication of which was the number
and character of the religious and secular buildings built at this time.

Unfortunately, many of the finest monuments of this period are in ruins.
However, from the ruins that are still extant, it is clear that the Gujarati

42. The Congregation of mendicants of the Monastery built by Mah&rSja
Rudrasena, c. 199-222 A. D., had a seal of their own.

TBX J BB mm C MCTOB : ABT8 09 nMABOKt

27 ?

craftsmen had inherited an artistic capacity, rich and deep, in as much as
their productions are ripe examples of this innate architectural genius. Many
of these monuments were directly inspired by the rulers; yet some of the
finer efforts were due to the patronage of their ministers and governors, who
were politicians, bankers and merchant-princes as welL These monuments
were also the spontaneous expression of the entire community, as is known
from inscriptional records. Each member of the community had a mate-
rial share in the production, by way of offering of the ‘First Fruit’ to
the deity, in which each person subscribed according to his capacity. Every
member of the populace was being identified with these artistic productions;
as, after substantial grants of money or revenue from land were provided for
by the ruler or his ministers, the village headmen ordered the assembly to
come to the market-place for an agreement to set apart for the God certain
taxes, payment to be made in the form of commodities, these imposts being
recognized by the ministers of the king. Such a measure could not fail to
implant in one and all the seeds of aesthetic feeling, a condition reflected
in all the handiwork of the people, from wooden house-fronts of the bazars
to the works of mere utility.

With the accession of MQlaraja to the throne of Aphilva^apatan in
942 A. D., began the building of those temples, the ruins of which are now
scattered over the country. This temple-building activity reached its
greatest height during the reigns of Siddbaraja and Kumarapala, during the
11th and 12th centuries. The remains of Rudramahalaya at Siddhapur, upon
the Sarasvati river, of the Sun-temple at Mo^hera in Gujarat, those of the
Navalakha temple of Ghumli in Saura^tra and of Kera Kotai in Kaccha give
an idea of the richness of architectural and sculptural skill of the Silpis.

The Kirti-stambhas mostly composed of two columns, which were
favourite additions to temples in Gujarat vary in fineness and execution.
The one at a temple on the banks of the river MeSvo at Samalaji is the
oldest, and certainly pre-Calukyan. Others are found even to-day at the
Sun-temple of Modbera, at the ornamental tank (kun^a) at Kapadvanj, at
Vadnagar, at the ruing of Candravatl, and at the Jaina temple at Osia. They
seem to serve no definite purpose other than ornament; but they serve that
purpose well. The Torana, as is seen in the Abu temples, was also a pet
device, whose convulsions are like some beautiful creeper running wild

between pillar and pillar in cusps and ciurves.

/

The workmanship of Kumarapala’s temple of Somanath, from what
was left, showed that it was later than that of the best period— i. e. the 11th
century, when the temples of Siirya at Mo^era, Ambamfith near Kalyap,
the Kudra Mahalaya at Siddhapur and Vhnalavasahl gn Mount Abu ware built^

278

CULTUBAL HISTORY 07 GUJARAT

Tanks and wells have been more artistically treated in GujarSt
in other parts of the country. Gujarat, Rajputana and Saura^tra have been
plentifully supplied with wells, many of which, especially the step-wells, are
not much behind the temples in architectural pretensions. There is a fine
example at Ahmedabad, known as Dada Harir’s; and an even finer one at
Adalaj has access to the steps from three sides. The Madhav§va at Wa^hvan
is noteworthy.

Much attention was paid to the architectural appearance of city-walls
and gates. The gates at Dabhoi, JQnagadh, Jinjuwada and Ghumli are
remarkable. Of these gates by far the finest is the Eastern or HIra gate at
Dabhoi.

The Jaina temples are mostly built on mountain-peaks. The Jaiha
shrines on Mount Abu, are better known to tourists than those upon
Satrunjaya, being more easily accessible. The Dilwada group of temples are
constructed, almost entirely, of white marble; quarried from the plains in the
North. The amount of beautiful ornamental detail spread over these temples
in the minutely carved decoration of ceilings, pillars, doorways, panels and
niches is simply marvellous. The temple of Ajitanatha on Taranga Hill,
built by Kumarapala, is one of the largest Jaina temples in Gujarat, the
statue of Ajitanatha being of a colossal size, perhaps in imitation of early
gigantic Yaksa images.

(iv) The Late Mediaeval Period : 1300 A. D. to 1800 A. D. : When
Allauddin Khilji invaded Gujarat he found beautiful architecture flourish-
ing. The style was marked by breadth and spaciousness combined with
elegance. The foundation of the local Muslim style of Gujdrat was laid
in the 14th century,, but it could not fully develop till the Ahmadshahi
dynasty. Unlike the architecture of the Hindus, which was confined almost
entirely to temples, Mahomedan architecture in India is represented by many
different types of building — the religious as well as secular. Those of religi-
ous nature consist of two kinds only, the Mosque and the Tomb. The secular
buildings include those intended for public and civic purposes, such as
houses, pavilions, town-gates, wells, stepwellsi gardens, etc., besides the
Imperial schemes of palace-forts and even cities.

The architecture, developed in Gujarat during the Muslim period, is
resolved in three divisions : (i) The Delhi or Imperial; (ii) the Provincial,
and (iii) the Mughal. The first refers to architecture evolved during the
dynasties of Khilji and Tughlaq at Delhi; the second is the form of architec-
ture which the Gujarat Sultans developed in accordance with their own in-
dividual ideals. The third, Mughal, was the ripest form of Indo-Islamic
architecture.

TBS SSTHSnC FACTOB; ABTS OS FUBASUBB

279

The Muslina rulers ware fortunate in having the unrivalled aesthetic
resources of the con^uarad territory in Gujarat and found some of the * most
accomplished artisans in the whole of India. The hereditary guilds of
temple-builders were constrained by the Islamic authorities to change their
orientation, and create structures of an entirely new order in the form of
mosques and tombs. However, in such circumstances, of all the provincial
styles which emerged under Islamic rule, that which flourished in Gujarat
is the most indigenously Indian. We can but only passingly mention the
cities where the Muslim architecture had found its way : Abmedabad, Patan ^
Dholka, Cambay, Broach, Campaner, Mahgrol, Junagadh. The monuments
are in the form of masjida (masques), Riujas, mausoleums, minarets and the
like.

It is observed: “As to the style, it was the singular fortune of the
Mahomedans to find themselves among a people their equals in conception,
their superiors in execution, and whose tastes had been refined by centuries
of cultivation; while moulding them, they were moulded by them, and though
insisting on the bold features of their own minaret and pointed arch, they
were fain to borrow the pillared hall, the delicate traceries, and the rich
surface-ornaments of their despised and prostrate foe. This combination of
styles explains why the Muslim architecture assumed in Gujarat a distinct
local form.” “

Texts on civil and religious architecture, such as the ‘Prasadaman^a-
na’ and ‘Rdjavallahha’ composed by Mandana Sutradhara, hailing from
Patan, discuss the architectural style of Gujarat which has a close connection
with that of the shrines erected by the Calukyan kings in the Kanarese
districts. Generally the lesser shrines had only a small porch or ‘Mandapa'
in front, whilst the larger ones had halls attached either closed in or open at
the sides. In some of the largest temples like that at Modhera there was a
detached open hall variously called the 'Sabhamandapa’ or assembly hall,
the ‘Rangamandapa’ — painted hall or theatre, and the ‘Nftya said’ or dancing
hall, wherein assemblies were held for discussion, dramatic shows, dancings
etc , which could no^propqjrly take place in the smaller porch.

The ‘Sikhara’ is one of the most characteristic features of a Hindu
temple and when it exists, it indicates at once the order or style to which the
building belongs. The temples of Gujarat have a distinct style of spires
which taper upwards, with or without smaller forms of Sikharas clustered
against the central spires. Though the origin of the form of the ’3ikhara’ is
obscure and is a subject of archaeological discussion, its object for being

43. Hope & Fergussop, Arphitgcturs of Ahmedihdi, p. 42.

280

COLTDKAL HISTOBY OP GUJABAT

over a shrine is obvious enough; like the towers on Western (lurches* and
the Minars of mosques, it is a landmark to guide the worshippers to the
sacred centre. So also is the flag-staff, with its flag and bells added over it,
which can only be planted in the finial or Kalasa when the image has been
installed and the shrine consecrated for worship.

The earliest masonry was of brick; for, building stone was not found in
the northern plains of Gujarat, and when used, it had to be brought from
Dhrangadhra in Saurastra, Ahmadnagar in Idar or from the ArwaUi Hills to
the North. Large bricks of the very old type are frequently dug up round
villages like Pahcasar; and over a large area about the Modheri temple, the
ground to a considerable depth was shown to be full of very old brick-work.
The Intva Stupa on Mount Girnar is so named because of its bricks of the
K^atrapa period. The courses, too, of the massive embankments round old
tanks such as the Sahasralihga Talao were of solid brick work, the outer
facing only being of stone.

The sites of the ancient cities of Valabhipurain Saura^ti'a and of
Candravat! in Northern Gujarat abound in brick mounds — the remains of
many temples that were destroyed by the Mahomedans in the 14lh and 15
centuries. Except in the Rudra Mahalaya at Siddhpur, such huge blocks of
stones are not found in the Gujarat temples which are constructed without
mortar. The stones are carefully dressed and they retained their positions
by the mere weight of the superincumbent masses. Hence whenever the
foundations subsided or pillars gave way, the loosened stones slided off one
another and the whole structure fell to pieces. During the 14th century the
Hindus, whether Brahmanical or Jaina, found little mercy at the hands of
their Mahomedan conquerors; and their rich shrines were desecrated,
plundered and demolished at the will or caprice of their masters. The
temples that were thus desecrated or overthrown by the Muslim invaders
were left to fall into ruin, and ultimately became a quarry for materials to
the Mahomedans. But the greatest destruction of these shrines took place
when the Mahomedans first settled in Gujarat. They dismantled the
temples wholesale and appropriated the material for construction of their
first mosques.

The most prominent characteristic of these Gujarat temples was the
profuse decoration of the sculptures that covered them and which was distri-
buted on a definite plan. At first sight, one would be almost bewildered by
the superabundance of detail on them, though the builders largely followed
stereotyped plans and designs provided for in the Sastras, from which
they all worked in common. “ Whilst their florid and arabesque designs
gre executed with an amount of skill and invention that is simply astonitbing*

tm Msmaui rAcroit: arts or naMvnat

m

&eir figure sculptures -being, however, of very mediocre value. In their
representations of the hiunan form the head and trunk are often passable,
.but the legs and arms are generally weak and wanting in muscle. This
defect has been commented on by different authors and variously ascribed to
the physical characteristics of the race and to the overlaying of the limbs
with richly carved ornaments. ” But it is argued by others that art for its
sake was not a pursuit that attracted the mind of the Hindu, and his sculpture
was too conventional to be true to ideal types in nature.

In the representation of their superhuman beings, drapery is scarcely
expected; and in the temple sculptures when it is intended, it is usually
indicated by a few lines drawn across the figure and a fold or two on the
legs and in front of them. This was the convention in the earlier cave-sculp-
tures and paintings, where a single line indicated the edge of Buddha’s robe
across the breast from the left shoulder. In the figure of Tirthankara
IR^abhadeva of Anhilpatan, the lines of the loin cloth appear just over the
hands, and the ends of it are seen below the crossed ankles. So also the
figures of Surya, the Sun-God at Modhera, are shown to wear a jacket with
richly embroidered neck and front, yet the breasts are carefully represented*
Still his person is clad in the dress of the northerners so as to be covered
from the feet upwards to the bosom. Similarly drapery is distinctly shown
in folds upon the legs only of certain figures on pillars which lose none of
their outline by this skin-tied clothing.

Ornaments are chiselled with the utmost care and minuteness of finish
on necklaces, bracelets and chains. Forbes has referred to the zeal of the
Hindus in Gujarat for building temples : “ It is a curious fact that after
each succeeding storm had swept over the land, the Hindus are observed
proceeding in the old way, establishing the passive vitality of their institu-
tions. Mahomud Ghazni had hardly accomplished his disastrous homeward
retreat, leaving behind him Anhilwad despoiled, and Somanatha a heap of
ruins, when the sound of the hammer and of the chisel was heard upon
Arasur and Abu, and stately temples began to arise at Kumbharia and Delvada,
in which an elaboratioa and a finish almost incredible seem to express the
founder’s steadfast refusal to believe in the Mlechha invader or iconoclastic
destroyers, as other than the horrid phantoms of a disturbing dream.”

As the Mahomedan architecture ofAhmedabad holds an important place
in the history of Fine Art in India, it is necessary to say a few words about its
genesis and character. From the time when Vimala Shah, the devout Jaina
minister of Bhimadeva SolankI, erected his superb temple on Mount Abu in
1032 A. D., to the final conquest of Gujarat by the Mahomedans at the close
of tiie 13tb century, the Jainas had by their patronage exercised a powerful

282

CUttTUBAL HISTORY OF GDMRAT

influence on the architecture of Western India. The Saracenic architecture
of Ahmedabad owes its peculiarly elegant and pleasing character to the fact
that it is essentially derived from the local Jaina forms which it replaced..

Not less important, it must be confessed, was the dependence of the
conquerors on the conquered in respect of the materials and the builders.
When Ahmed Shah decided to establish his capital on the site of the ancient
city of Karnavati, he must have found there many old Hindu temples, whose
destruction afforded him materials for his buildings. In the Jami Masjid and
in many of the earlier mosques in the city, pillars and ceilings are to be found
that have been transferred from the older temples, and many a delicately
sculptured work of art were scornfully thrown into walls and foundations.
The finest edifices of the old capital of Anhilvad, and of the remoter city of
Candravatl, were ruthlessly plundered for material, throughout the whole
period of Mahomedan rule in Gujarat. For fresh material the conquerors
resorted to the said stone-quarries of Ahmadnagar (Idar) and Dhrangadhra
or the marble hills of the Ajmer district. The builders and artisans employed
by Ahmed Shah and his successors were probably Hindus and hereditary
craftsmen. All these circumstances explain why the Saracenic architecture
assumed in Ahmedabad a distinct local form, as it did in other places such
as Mandu, Jaunpur and Bijapur. The present stone-carvers at the marble
quarries of Makran, near Jodhpur, are Muslims, whose forefathers helped in
the earlier building work.

Beginning ivith the accession of Ahmed Shah in 1410 the Saracenic
architecture of Ahmedabad continued steadily to develop for the next hun-
dred years, until it reached its perfected form at the death of Sultan Maho-
mud Begda in 1511. The Indo-Saracenic architecture of Ahmedabad may be
said to have reached its golden age during the long and glorious rule of
Mahomud Begda. Like the masterpieces of the Gothic art of Mediaeval
Europe the Indo-Saracenic architecture of Ahmedabad was essentially reli-
gious in character as is amply illustrated by the mosques and mausoleums
that were raised during this period. To Mahomud Begda’s reign, however,
belong two monuments which are primarily utilitarian in iheir object and
the conception of which the architects of the end of the 15th century evi-
dently borrowed from preceding Hindu ’period. They are the two step-
wells, known as Bai Harir’s Vav and Adalaj Vav.

During this period of growth and prosperity in Gujarat the style had
assumed two distinct forms — the one a combination of the Jaina and Maho-
medan element, the other almost wholly Jaina. After the conquest of
Gujarat by Akbar the monuments of every class became fewer and less
pleasing, but the spirit of art, as observed by Fergusson, was inherent in

XHK msamsc rAcroR; arts or pirasors

283

the people, and whenever it had an opportunity it still cropped out, but more
in their tombs and smaller buildings than in their mosques or palaces. -

We have already shown how Islam directly or indirectly had been
gathering spiritual nourishment from India partly by intellectual intercourse
and partly by racial assimilation. The materials for the study of the impact
of Hinduism upon Islam and vice versa, are abimdant in Giijarat, from the
time independent dynasties mostly of Indian descent began to set themselves
up in the more distant provinces of the Delhi empire. The craftsmen of
these Indo-Mahomedan courts began to revive the finest traditions of Hindu
culture in their wonderful mosques, palaces, public gardens, wells, bathing
places, and irrigation works consecrated as of old to the service of the one
God whom the Brahmins worship as Hvara, Mahomedans as All^. ‘*Ahme-
dabad, the capital of Mahomedan Gujarat, was created by the royal craftsmen
of Rajputana. The Gaur of the Musalman Sultans was a new Lakhvanti;
Banaras was the mother of Jaunpur; Dhar the mother of Man^u; the royal
craftsmen of Vijayanagar Rajas built the capital of the Mahomedan dynasty
of Bijapur.”"

Islam thus did not alter Indian aesthetic principles or add to them but
was the unconscious instrument of giving Indian art a new impulse. Nor is
it surprising that the great political and social upheaval caused by the
Mahomedan conquest should create a revolution in the technical traditions
of Indian art. Painting and sculpture were specialized branches of Hindu
temple>architecture. But when the higher ranks of Hindu painters and
sculptors — those who painted or sculptured the sacred images — shared the
common fate of Indian craftsmen, they became Mahomedan slaves. Such
specialization would to a great extent cease; for neither figure-painting nor
sculpture was allowed by the strict law of Islam. The painters and sculptors
became for the most part builders and designers of buildings, and thus Indo-
Mahomedan building traditions formed a new synthesis of Hindu art.

We have no special record of any remarkable change in the style of
building and architecture under the Mughal supremacy, except that we come
across incidents where Jain» temples, despoiled by fanatics like Aurangzeb
when he was the Governor of Gujarat were rebuilt. We only incidentally
mention the incident of defiling the Jaina temple of Cintamani Parsvanath
built by Santidas Jhaverl, the Nagarseth of Ahmedabad, at a cost of 9 lacs of
rupees, which was subsequently restored by the orders of Emperor Shah
Jahan under express Firmans." About a'mile and a quarter North-West of

44. Havell, Aryan Rule in India, p. 327.

45. Vide : Descriptive Catalogue of MSS. in the Forbes Gujarat! Sabha, No. 49
pp. 377-379 on which ie given the gist of these Firmans, written in Persian,

284

CmUTOBAL BISTORT OT ODJJUUT

Ha^hising’s temple was the Shahibag palace, built in 1622 by Sh6b JahSn
(1616>1622), the then Viceroy of Gujarat.

After the revival of Vaisnavism in Gujarat by Vallabh§cSrya and
Vitthale^vara, temples of Balagopala began to multiply in the province.
But these temples compared quite unfavourably with the richness of sculp-
ture and carving of the Jaina Derasaras. In a sect where all the fine arts
were requisitioned for the worship of the deity, it is striking that this art of
sculpture was totally subordinated by its votaries. This was perhaps done
in response to the political and social environment of the country under the
templo-breaking Mahomedans. “In the construction of temples, Vitthale-
svara followed a plan of his own. He did not approve of the idea of rich
and costly buildings for temples. He realised that gorgeous temple-buildings
were not safe under the Mahomedan rule. For this reason, he constructed
temples of an extremely simple style, popularly known as ‘ Havelis ’. Nothing
could be seen from outside. From outside appearance his temple would
appear to be a simple dwelling house. But at the same time great care was
bestowed on its inside construction. Free passage of light and air was
always borne in mind.”*

The Marathas who succeeded the Mughuls could do very little in the
development of this fine art. But devout Hindus as they were, their rule in
Gujarat has left some temples; the one on Pavagadh hill was built by Kanthaji
Kadam in 1727. The beautiful temple at Dakor was built in 1772 at a cost
of one lac of rupees by Gopal Jagannath Tambvekar, a native of Satara, and
banker to the Peshwa. The temple of Nagesvara or Candresvara Mahadeva
was built in 1751 by Antaji Rao, an ofi&cer of the Gaekwads for the mainte-
nance of which the village of Raj pur was assigned. The temple of Bahucara
was repaired by Manaji Rao, the younger son of Damaji Rao Gaekwad in
1783. The Kunda that was restored bears his name even today in ‘ Mana-
sarovar*. These temples evince their staunch belief in Siva and Sakti, the
family deities of all warrior castes. The temple of Jadesvara, near Vankaner,
was built under Mara^ha regime. The new temple of Somanath built by
Ahalyabai Holkar, and the magnificent ‘ghats' on*^armada, the one at
Candod, by Malharrao Gaekwad, and the other at Garudesvara by the
MaharapI of Indore, deserve mention.

dictated by K. M. Jhaver! to A. B. Jinl. The incident has been further
pres?rved in a popular ballad by a Jaina author, styled ‘ 51^0 ^ Wlil’.

Sec also. Bom. Gaz. IV, p. 285.

46. Mulacandra Teliwala : “Life of Vi^thaleSvara” in Sitidhidvaita Ifonthty,
1928,

TtiB mmamc pactos: abpb or mcAsosB

28S

VIL SenlptaM

Indian sculpture in its best period is never a mere embellishinentt
but an indivisible part of an architectural scheme; and yet a part which
never loses its individuality as pure sculpture of the highest perfection.
Apart from architecture it exists in the form of statues.

The sculptural art in Western India, especially in Gujardt, Saurai?t>^a
and Marwad during the K^atrapa, Gupta and post-Gupta periods has only
been scantily brought to light and accordingly has not been properly studied
so far.

Gujarat is an art-province which has a dialect of its own, although it
is related to that of the contemporary currents in the other two branches of
the Western Sculpture. It appears, mediaeval craftsmen from Gujarat in
the West and Orissa in the East shared common art-traditions. A reference
to the existence of the School of Ancient West ” at MarQ, headed by
Sfhgadhara, representing both the arts of Sculpture and Painting in the
7th century A. D. has been noted by the Tibetan historian Taranath who
wrote in 1609 A. D. No links could, however, be established for want of
representative specimens.

The discovery of the flourishing Gupta and post- Gupta school of
sculpture in the former l^ar State, which includes the Mesvo valley, from
where the beautiful Samalaji sculptures of Mat^kas and VisvarCpa Vi9pu
are found, and the discovery of early sculptures from Lata, i.e., territory south
of Baroda, say from the banks of the Viivamitri and the village of Kapur!,
point out the artistic activity in this area also, during the post-Gupta period.
The valley of the Sabarmatl and the Hathmati which disclosed the old ruins .
of Kotyarka temple, has yielded the mother-and-child sculptures of exquisite
beauty and grace of the same period. ■ The discovery of stylistically similar
images of Kubera and Haladhara from Kavi, near Jambusara (Dist. Broach),
and the find of seventh century old sculptures from Junagadh, Vala and
Kadvar in Saurastra are equally noteworthy. The discovery of a few pieces
of architectural remains from Pa^an and the find of a Trimurti figure from
Kathlal, a few miles# from* Kapadvanj, not to mention the even earlier
image of Lakulisa found near Karvap (now in the Archaeological Museum,
M. S. University) and the imposing image of Sage Udumbara in the Me^o
valley and of a Yak^a at Bhinmal of the same period ; the cumulative effect of
these finds of pre-Solanki sculptures within the last two decades, suggests the
evolution of a local sculptural art in Western India. References to the plastic
art in evidence in these elegant sculptures and the Akota bronzes of the pre-
Solankl period, were naturally out of question in the earlier works bn Tndian
Art* by Havell, Coomarswamy, Vincent Smith, Codrington and others.

286

cavnmAu tasroax or owabat

Sutradhara Ma^dana who hhiled from Patan and was patronised by
King Kumbhakarna (ruled 1419>1469 A. D.) of Medapa^ (Mewir) has
several Sanskf t treatises on Architecture and Sculpture to his credit, which
enjoyed considerable popularity with artists and craftsmen, throughout the
length and breadth of India. They are the ‘ Vostu-mandono', ‘Pratada-
mandana', ‘ Rajavallahha-mandana* and ‘Rupa-maVid^'na’. Mapd&°&’s
mention of uncommon images of Vispu, seated on human Garuda with either
eight, ten, twelve, fourteen, sixteen or twenty hands is peculiar to Western
Indian sculpture only; and his texts appear to be a living tradition handed
down to posterity even upto the present day, as known from available Mss.
The worship of Vayu and Vayavi, originally the guardian deity of the North-
West corner, has been a living religion with a section of Vai^yas in Gujarat,'
the 'Vayadas, and is unique in India, suggesting perhaps the sea-borne trade
carried on by them with countries to the north-west of the Arabian Sea.

As in architecture, the Muslim invasion introduced a foreign style of
sculpture and painting which, however, was completely absorbed after some
centuries. By the middle of the 15th century, the renaissance in Gujarat
and Rajputana brought forth a new temple-sculpture and book-illustrations.

The most famous school of Wood-sculpture in India was that of Gujarat
with its centre at Patan. Gujarat wood-sculpture is usually part of the
decoration of temples, Chara deherasaras (miniature-temples connected with
household worship) and private buildings. Much of it is religious in signi-
ficance and depicts the deities of the Jaina legends and of stories relating to
Jainism. The general tendency of this wood-sculpture is ornate, and
originally it was lacquered in gay colours; but as a whole, it forms a very
pleasing and interesting aspect of Indian sculptural art, while individual
pieces often attain heights of great plastic beauty. But wood decays, and
with the growing demand for stone-edifices, little of this wood sculpture is
left in situ.*' In Gujarat, a walk through the streets of Surat, Broach,
Baroda, Ahmedabad, Palanpur or Patan will convince anyone as to their
quality and excellent workmanship. The reconstructed richly carved
Martdapa of wood- sculpture in Baroda Musemn is worth a visit.

Parallel with the stone and wood- sculpture there flourished a Bronze
(or more correctly brass) art. Beautilul specimens of Jaina and Bauddha'
metal-imagcs have been discovered from the village Kotyarka-Mahudi io

47. The famous PaficasarS Pargvanalh temple at Patan built of fine wood-sculp-
ture of the ISth century has since been made into a stone-edifice, with atone
sculpture of a derivative style.

m XSTHSHC rACTOft ; ABXS Or rUCABUBS

287

Vijipur Taluki (N. Gujarat) in 1938. The Jaina bronzes from Vali are not
later than 8th Century A. D. The other interesting discovery of about .one
hundred images from the site of old Ahkoftaka, modern Ako^a village near
the Baroda railway line, gives us a glimpse of the type of bronzes that were
known in the early mediaeval period in Gujarat. The Akota bronzes fully
corroborate the reference by Taranath as to the ‘Western School of Indian
Sculpture’ with Srhgadhara as the pioneer artist in the 7th century A. D.
The discovery of a Standing Buddha bronze image from Bhuj, with an in-
scription on its pedestal in Brahmi characters of the 7th Century A. D, also
supports this view.

VIII. Drawing & Painting

The generality of names among villagers— mostly agriculturists— both
in Gujarat and Saurastra are taken from the animal world with which they
daily deal and engage in their occupation.** Natural environmental world
thus produced its effect on the mind of this rural population. They di'ew
these objects as they thought of them, not as they appeared in nature. The
Pddra Devatd and other uncouth stones besmeared with oil and red vermilion
which one meets with while just entering a village site, point out the same
truth of their imagination which could look upon them as images with parti-
cular well-defined forms. Again, no primitive art is realistic. Only after
long ages of experimentation we learn to concentrate attention on details
and on such realistic tales as perspective and colour.

The rough pictures on walls drawn at the marriage-ceremonies in
Gujarat or at some religious rituals and festivals of some vows or Vrataa
such as ‘Nagapancami’ are certainly examples of the crude but homely art
of drawing which is mostly preserved and handed down from mother to
daughter and so on in Gujarati homes. Again such an artist is mostly in-
terested only in what stands for a fish or a serpent or a man; he will show only
the head, as it is the only important part of the body. Sometimes a profile
face will be supplied w|th twQ eyes. This is an illustration of the fact that
the first drawings are “ out of the head ” of the artist. He knows that men
have two eyes, so he puts them into bis drawing quite regardless of the fact
which careful observation would show, that when a face is seen in profile,
only one eye is visible. In like fashion, primitive artist of Gujarat (whose
specimens are available in some of the eld manuscript collecticns, which

48. Cf. Names like and a legion

may be multiplied.

288

CaimiBAt tOSTOSY OF OOJA8AT

are thus crudely illustrated) in trying to depict a man moimted <m a borse^
will show both oi the man’s legs on the visible side of the horse.

These drawings are not, at first, the reproductions of the experience
of an object. They are the projections of the experience of the observer,
the reproduction of an idea. Its limitations are the limitations of the
idea. What it contains by way of positive features is what the mind
tends to emphasize. Gradually, these primitive ideas are seen in scnne cases
to have developed into decorative design. Men noted that certain animal-
forms fitted gracefully into certain spaces, and they devised repetitions
of the form to make a border or surface which seemed to them interest-
ing. In such a case, the animal-form was very frequently modified so as to
emphasize balance and symmetry of parts to a degree that departed radi-
cally from nature. The most popular Hathi-vela, Mora-vela, Phula-vela —
used in printing or weaving cloth in Gujarat, were the designs of Gujarat
artisans who carved out the figures on wood with exquisite fineness, which
gave the printed cloth of Gujarat a wide sale in foreign markets.* These
decorative designs led them away from the observation of nature. The
motive here was not to follow closely that which was presented to the eye
when the object was seen, but to rearrange lines so that they shall mark
rhythmical successions.

The next stage to which men moved in maturing the graphic arts of
drawing and painting was that of reproducing more accurately figure and
colour. This led to representative drawing and painting or cultivation of
realism in art. In Gujarat of ancient and mediaeval days, men had much of
idealism in them, and hence, drawings and paintings that are met with are
all ‘ Bhavatmaka which means * imaginary and idealistic ’, if translated in
clear terms. Some of the statues of Jaina Acaryas or of Vastupala and
Teja]^pala of Vanaraja, of Narasithha Mehta, of Mira, of Bhalana, and a
host of others in Gujarat and Saurastra can hardly be regarded as those
from actual life.*

The Buddhist style of Indian painting exemplified by the wall-frescoes
in the caves of Ajanta has been assigned partially to painters from Lafa who
are said to have decorated the ceilings with their pictorial art. Our paint-

49, A number of printed Calico pieces discovered from the sands of Fustat
(near Cairo), exported from the Western Indian coast, are published by B.
Ffister, in 'Lea Toites imprimees de Fustat et I’Hindoustan’, (1838).

50. See, gpitome of Jainism (1917) by P. C. Nahar andK. Ghosh. The portraits
of Kumarapfila and his teacher Hemacandra, though indifferently reproduced,
are interesting specimens of ‘Jaina portraiture ’ , which is a class by Itself.

THE AESTHETIC FACTOR: ARTS OF PLEASURE

289

ers in the mediaeval times were enjoying wide popularity. Udlcya poet
Syamilaka (c.500 A.D.) makes mention of artists, known as 'Dindikas’, well*
versed in the art of canvas-painting and panel or fresco painting, in the
particular variety of drama known as ‘Bkana*, especially in the one named
*Pdda-tdditaka’, where among the ^Dindika’ artists Lata ^Dindikas’ are
specially remembered. The death of Harf^avardhana of Kanauj in f48
A. D. marks the end of a well-defined epoch in the political as well as in
the pictorial history of India.

The geographical limits of mediaeval Gujarat were much wider than
now, and included much of what is now known as Rajputana. It must, how-
ever, be recognised that Jainism did furnish the principal clientele if not the
central inspiration to the school of Gujarati painters; for, the creed of
Mahavlra had moved northwards after its eclipse and submergence under
the passionate outburst of South Indian Saivism, which broke out in the 6th
century A. D. The temples of Delvada and the ruins of Pa^an bear witness
to the wealth and influence of the votaries of Jainism, which had become the
State religion during the reign of Kumarapala. The Jaina community seems
to have been, g merally speaking, always prosperous; and appears to have taken
special pains to build up and conserve valuable collection of Mss. It is for
this reason that a large number of pre-Moghul works — ^remnants of literature
and art — come from old Jaina Bhandaras.

There is a considerable amount of material— religious and secular—
to illustrate the pictorial art of Gujarat, which is of extraordinary interest
and importance for the knowledge of the common life of the people — their
manners, costumes and modes of living. The material consists primarily
of illustrated Mss. and painted boards of wood (Kdsthapa^ikd) , There
are also a few examples of portraiture of this school, and it is possible
that we may discover some old ‘Letters of Apology’ or Ksamdpand or
Vijnaptipatra which the Jaina laity and clergy prepared with so much care
and embellishment for sending them to their Ecclesiastical Head of the
neighbouring place on the * Sdmvatsarika " — the last and the holiest of their
eight days’ festival of fasts.

There is one letfcr paibted by a court-painter of Jahangir, depicting a
deputation of the disciples of Vijayasena Suri to his court when the tolerant
policy of Akbar — ^by which the killing of animals on the days of Paryusana
festivals throughout the empire was prohibited, and the general amnesty was
granted to prisoners and caged birds — had been partially reversed by his
successor Jahangir. It is this historical incident w hich is the subject-matter
of the ‘letter for forgiveness’, sent by the Jaina congregation of Agra to their
celebrated Guru, Vijayasena Suri, who was then at Devapattan in Sau-
rastra. This pictorial roll was drawn by Ustad galivahan, the court-painter.

19 ‘

290

euLTvttAL HBTOfnr or oojabat

Artistically speaking the pictures in this roll are probably among the
finest pictures illustrating the common life of the people. In the portrait of
Vijayasena Suri, the disciple and successor of Hira Vijaya Suri, we have the
faithful likeness of a great religious teacher of commanding personality and
immense learning. It was on account of such men that the Jainas were able
to secure privileges from the Muslim Court. Sadhiis are dressed in spotless
white and carrying the massive chowries — characteristic of Jaina Svetambara
clergies. The writers of these K^amapana letters used them as convenient
media for bringing to the notice of the ecclesiastical heads their capacity for
literary, artistic or philosophical expressions. The letter referred to above is
dated V. S. 1667 and is written in Gujarati, with a considerable admixtime
of the then current Hindi."

According to Col. Forbes, Karna Solanki had received a portrait-
painter, who had travelled in many countries and who stood at the door
seeking permission to appear in his presence with good favour. When the
painter submitted to the King a roll of pictures among which was seen the
picture of Minala Devi, his future queen and the illustrious mother of Siddha-
raja. llie tale is of interest as it proves that the mediaeval Hindu kings of
Gujarat encouraged the art of portrait-painting.” The stately kingdom of
Siddharaja and Kumarapala was lost by Karpadeva Vagbela, the last
Hindu prince of Gujarat, and was incorporated into the empire of Delhi
in 1297 A. D.

It was made into a separate principality in 1414 A. D. by Muzaifarkhan;
and, though it continued under Muslim domination for several centuries, its
arts and crafts did not lose their individuality. The Hindu-Moslcm architec-
ture of Ahmedabad shares the unique flistinction of achieving a happy
synthesis of conflicting ideals as embodied in edifices of lasting glory. The
pictures of Vasanta Vilasa, however, though executed after a century and
a half of Muslim domination in Gujarat, are absolutely unaffected by foreign
influences. It appears that the art of painting could expect very little of
patronage from Mahomedan rulers of the land, to whom most of the fine
arts were against the dicta of the Koran.” l

51. t, S. edited by MuniJinavijayaji.

52. R&sa Mila, page 105.

53. Of the six ordinarily recognized fine arts— architecture, sculpture, painting,
dancing, music and poetry — Islam tabooes the second regularly, and the third
in most cases, though in these last cases human nature has been too strong
for it. Hence it seems likely that the architects of the great Islamic build-
ings were regularly foreigners, either members of other religions, or
converts to Islam from them. There is no doubt that IslSmic decoration

rm AnTBcnc vacior: arts or fueastox

291

The painting of Sathia {Swastika) and ‘ RahgoU' (Rafigavali) is an essen*
tially bourgeois art, akin to the art which expresses itsell even at the present
day in mural decorations and exquisite albeit ephemeral displays of geometri-
cal patterns, in a variety of colours in front of the middle class hemes in Gu-
jarat on festive occasions.** Though the appeal of such an art is not primarily
emotional, it springs from the depth of the innermost consciousness and innate
joy in life, and therefore succeeds in portraying the actual life of reality and
ideals, with its bewildering nuances — ^trivial and sublime, physical and spirit-
ual, gross and subtle as one complex unity. Though not so accomplished as
the school of temple-painting or the court-art of princes, it is of exceptional
value as a unique, comprehensive and popular record of the every-day life
of the people.

The Raiigoll drawings are filled in with beautiful taints mixed and
graduated according to the fancy of the artist and surrounded by highly
original decorative details of flowers, fruits, birds, animals or figimcs treated
conventionally or realistically. These pictures of which no two were the
same, although the subjects treated had to be identical, are painted. The
prepared surface of cow-dung is moistened and the colours are mixed and
rubbed in as a pigment with the fingers. The process is nearer to painting
than to pastel. The art of Rangoli in one form or another is more or less
general among the high class Hindus of Gujarat. The Sathia or sand-pic-
ture is drawn upon the floor with white sand and coloured powder manipu-
lated with fingers and not with a brush.** The design is drawn upon the
floor without any kind of guiding lines except dots put in without measure-
ments to mark the points and without pencil or brush.

On all auspicious occasions — upon the birth of a child or at the thread
and marriage ceremonies, at the Gauri Pujana vow, at the Nagapancami day.

exhibits a considerable amount of originality. This consists largely of elabo-
rate geometrical designs, worked in stone, wood, and mosaic.

54. Even Pfirsi women draw luck chalk-marks on and in front of the threshold.
These are not different from those made by Hindus. They arc made of any
white powder, chalk bein^ adopted as convenient. In most families the lucky
or spirit-scaring power of these patterns is forgotten. The common belief is
that any figure, line, or curve that is graceful or catches the fancy may be in-
introduced. These marks are made on holy days and other festive and joyous
occasions. Some make them daily, except when in mourning.— Bom. Gas., IX,
ii, p. 209, foot-note.

55. Narsiihha Kehtfi efers to this socio-religious art of painting in a reception
song :

^ in Bwwi Bifw :

qwwi w ffi: Ir dl wianft 1 ”

292

COLTCBAL HSSTORy OT OtUAKAt

at the Navaratra festival, and at the feast of Lamps (£>iwill),—4he GujarStl
women resort to their delightful drawing. Early in the morning the girl
would begin that delightful use of art as the indispensable adjunct of her
devotions by drawing round the pedestal of the sacred Tulasi plant before
which she performed her pUjd, a Rahgoll or sand-picture. This decoration
in vivid colours, consisted of running border with the symbol of tire
‘Swastika’ at its four corners.

A distinctive Gujarati school of Miniature-Painting flomrished from
the 11th to the 16th centuries in the region of old Gujarat which was integral-
ly a part of Rajasthan. The bulk of paintings of this School were produced
in what is now called Gujarat; and apparently the word ‘Gujarat’ was
considered a mark of distinction, and used by singers, painters and other
artisans, at any rate during the regime of Akbar. Names of Bhima Gujarati,
Kesho Gujarati and Madho Gujarati are given in the Ain-UAkhari. The
term ‘ RajasthSni ’, has been associated with the paintings mostly of the 17th
and the 18th centuries, originally derived from the ‘ School of Ancient West*.

The variety of sui jecls depicted in the various Jaina and non-Jaina
illustrated Mss. makes it clear that the Western Indian School had a wider
geographical extension and considerable and justifiable vogue in the days of
its glory. The evolution of Rajasthani as well as Punjabi Schools of Paint-
ing, including the Basholi pictures, as well as the purely Mughal School is
vitally connected with the older traditions of Gujarati painting.

The Western school of painting flourished in Rajputana, Malwa, Central
India and Gujarat and survived in the inaccessible retreats of the Thar
desert, the Aravallls, Saura^tra and Eastern Gujarat. But under unfavour-
able conditions, consequent on the Muslim, conquest of the Punjab, the art
quickly petrified to a set of purely ornamented formulas for the illustration
of religious palm-leaf and paper manuscripts, which alone had a chance
to escape Muslim iconoclasm.

Under the toleration of the Sultans of Ahmedabad, however, the ossified
West-Indian palm-leaf style fiirst assumed a rather fashionable elegance; and
then with the greater facility of drawing provided by tiie introduction of paper,
was transformed into a vivid folk-style of a very charming naivete. However,
as their typology was already fixed, the Jaina illustratio.is relapsed, after a
short-lived renaissance, into a dead mannerism, and came to a modest life
only much later, under the influence of Mughal and Rajaput art. The case
was different with Hindu book-illustrations. The creative initiative of the
artists had been kindled again under the popular mass-enthusiasm of Bbakti;
and the popularity of the Bhagavata Purdna, the Devi Mdhdtmya, the Gita-
Govinda and the Bdlagopdla Stuti, called for illustrations of a free treatment

XHB ssmamc factob; abus of fuasobe

of themes. Already in the Jaina Kalakac&rya Katkd, the painters had
ventured to depict the Saka protectors and later converts of the Jainas in
contemporary Muslim costumes. They went further and composed new
scenes with a freer treatment of traditional old types. Even the Sansk]l
love-tale Madhava^Kamakatidola Katkd and the episode of Bilhana Pancdsikd
called for a de luxe edition with miniature-paintings, illustrative of the text.
The secular roll of Vasanta Vildsa miniatures is known all over the
art-world.

There are divergent views regarding the aesthetic appeal of Western
Indian school of miniature-painting. The early palm-leaf illustrations are
imbued with a sense of direct expression, which is a characteristic of the
primitives. In the course of time, however, the early formulas are hardened
into conventions which are repeated with such mechanical precision that the
paintings lose much of their aesthetic significance; and the Mss. appear to
be the painted copies of the original, turned out, perhaps, to meet the
popular demand, which wanted to get religious merit by subscribing to its
moderate cost. Some of the 16th century Mss. are distinguished by their
beautiful border decorations, the motifs of which are drawn from contem-
porary Islamic architecture and book-painting.

The time-limit of this mediaeval Western painting is from 1100 A. D.
(Samvat 1157) when the Mss. of Nisithacurni were painted at Broach in
the reign of Jayasimha Siddharaja, to about the end of the 16th century,
when under the influence of the newly founded Mughal School, the signific-
ance of the style was lost.

Gujarat, as we know, was a centre of calico-printing; and it exported
printed calico to Africa and Asiatic countries from the 11th to 16th century.
No textile materials have survived from this period in Gujarat proper, and
the only source for the knowledge of the patterns and colours employed by
the textile-printers of Gujarat are these paintings. That the painters took
the designs from the contemporary art of textile-painting is supported by
the actual appearance of such designs on the contemporary printed calico
pieces from Gujarat, discovered in the sands of Fustat, near Cairo in Egypt.

The fame of the Gujarati craftsmen appears to have been on a par with
that of the painters who were invited to the Royal Studio at Delhi, for one
of the finest structures in Akbar’s city Fatehpur-Sikrl, Jodhbai’s Palace, was
entrusted to “artisans from Gujarat, one 6f the groups of workmen brought
from distant parts to speed up the production of this vast project”."

56. Percy Brown, Indian Architecture : Muslim, pp. 96-99.

294

CTlLTUltAI. BSSTOBT OF GCUAXAT

A remarkable change in figure-drawing from the style is

marked in the angularity of drawing seen in the wall-painting at Ellorfi :
Kailasa Mandir (8th to 10th century A. D.) in ‘Vi§ 9 u riding on Garuda’.
The angularity in the features and the farther eye protruding in space, closely
resemble the persons depicted in the early 12th century illustrated palm-leaf
Mss. from Gujarat. The remnants of wall-paintings in Western and Central
India at Lalitpur, near Jhansi, are more related to the Western Indian minia-
ture-paintings of 12th to 14th century. Their chief interest lies in the angu-
larity of drawing, pointed nose and the protrusion of farther eye into space,
and conventional treatment of trees, birds and animals.

The Western Indian School of painting seems to have exercised some
influence on the wall-paintings of the Buddhist temple at Pagan, in Burma,
assignable to the 13th century on stylistic grounds. The beginning of linear
conception of painting is thus traced to the Ellura paintings, which found its
wide expression in Western India.

Prof. W. N. Brown writes : “ The Western Indian School is one of
great importance in the History of Indian Painting. For one thing (i) it
contains all the Western India painting, whe her of large or small dimensions,
known to exist over a period of some centuries, containing the sequence of
the frescoes at Ajanta, Bagh, and Ellura; for another (ii) it is the parent on
the Indian side, that in union with the Persian School, on the other side,
gave birth to the Rajaput and Mughal styles, so prolifically cultivated and so
well-known. ”

A good specimen of religious paintings by a GujarStl artist is found in
a Sanskrt copy of the 1 0th Skandha of the Bhdgavata with of

dhara, transcribed by one Suraji at the request of Madhusudandas and richly
illustrated by Govinda, the son of Narada. It is dated Saihvat 1667.”

The pictures represent Gujarat! dress of both the males and the
females as distinguished from that of the Rajaput or the Marwad!. The head-
dress of the males seems to have been very little influenced by the Maho-
medan style. These illustrations have short explanatory notes in Old
Gujarati prose." * *■

57. The colophon reads : |

wrwiTPierT'^if i

fefefr: n

58. I give below a few of these explanatory notes, at random, from a copy which
I possess : —

THE iESTHEnC rACTOS : ABIB Of VUtASOfM

295

The painter class, as forming a section of the artisan class, seemii to
hold a respectable place in Gujar&ti society, as can be gathered from -the
reference to the proverb “ ^ ” through the mouthpiece

of a cit&ra in the Ravana-Mandodan-Sarkv&da. by Samalbhatt. The heroines
of this poet’s Stories are generally described as accomplished, and know-
ing all fine arts. Citralekha of Preminand in 'Okkdkarapa’ represents a
clever artist who could draw the lifelike portrait of Aniruddha.** But
these may be idealisations, and not actualities in the society of Gujar§t.

IX. Music & Dance

The important inroad by which art has entered the daily life of Indian
people is through the domain of folk-music and folk-dance. Sarngadeva
(12th Century A. D.) has defined the indigenous dance, music and musical
instruments, as that which catches the popular ear and touches the very
heart of the people of various lands and climes. Such local (D^si) tunes are
consequently named after their original place of birth, such as Gaudi,
Veradi, Gurjari, Malava, Karnataki, Saindhavi, Sorathi, Maru, and after
specific cities, like Bilaval (Veraval), Khambhayati (from Khambhat) and
the like.

The varied nature of the occupational folk-element native to Gujarat
itself has helped to shape the artistic tendencies of the people. This
embraces many occupational trades and their idealisations : of the hunter, the
shepherd, the peasant, the seaman, and the merchant. The arts and crafts
are so associated with the wonderfully variegated designs of these occu-

“ ateilfe I fwi I

sagf® =5151, feJt «r 0, 'dtfs I

fjsoi *Rkr ^ gfe i

li®n \

gwi ^ qairrfs, g*T, I

5ift, I ” etc.

59. “ ^i®3l :

g»K wr: 'K, 555r g'?r«T, ^ ^ '

^ ^ ga;

‘ iir, in *iRi di ^

296

CULTURAL HISTORY OF GUJARAT

pational activities, that each of these cultures, native and foreign, has been
developed in history, and has been reacting on the intellectual life of the
Gujarati people,

A passing reference to the religious history of Gujarat suggests that
when the people of Gujarat followed either the Sakti-worship or animism,
the ‘ Garaha ’ was the popular folk-dance. Later on with the development
of the ‘Rasa’ or the cowherd-dance (evolved from the ‘halliaaka’ and the
*lasya’ of the treatises on music), Vaisnavism came to be preached in
Gujarat; and as a result, the Sakta and animistic beliefs were artistically bh nd-
ed together, evolving a novel form of secular dance. All the Sakta and
animistic beliefs and practices which the converts to Vaisnavism carried
in the depths of their hearts, could not be eradicated root and branch. The
inner urge for dance and song among the people of Gujarat, thus bursts forth
year after year during the festival of Durgapuja, and extends to nine nights
and days (Navaratra). It invariably continues upto the full-moon night of
Asvin, the glorious night of Sr! Kpsna’s ‘Rasakrlda’. These ‘Garaba’-
songs and the dance connected with them are essential contributions to
Gujarat! literature, dance and art.

The'garabo’, originally a many-holed ghata (earthen pot) with a
burning lamp inside it, when placed on the head of a lady is comparable to
the starry dome of the heavens, handled by the Mal.a-sakti. Ihe word
‘Garabo’ came to be applied to the singing party itself, where men, but oftener
women, move round and round in a circle, and sing to the accompaniment
of a rhythmical clap of hands and feet. The dance rs in motion, as well as
the songs composed for this occasion are known by the common name
‘ Garabo ’. In the ‘ garabo ’, there is colour'and music, grace and sweetnt ss.
It is a beautiful art-form, a unique mode of culture and a self-expression
of the people, which is one of the hnest contributions of Gujarat to the art
heritage of India.

The musical propensities of the Vpsnis who settled on the Western
sea-shore of Saurastra are a familiar feature inrSansl^rit literature. Krsna
belonged to this clan of Yadavas. The Harivarhsa describes their dancing
sports, such as the dance with the accompaniment of sticks (Dan^a-rSsaha)
and the one with the accompaniment of clapping of hands (Tdla-rSsaka) .
In a painting in the Bagh caves, situated on an ancient road connect-
ing Gujarat with Malwa, depicting a music party, can be observed a typical
scene from the life of mediaeval and modern Gujarat. Nowhere else in
India are women to be seen going round in a dance keeping time with
small sticks (da^daka or danda) held in either hand.

TUB 4ESTR8tlC FACTOS : ABTS OF FLSASCBE

207

fHje dance in circular motion, wherein one leads and the others follow,
just as 0ri>K]:$9a led the Gopis, is called Halliaaka or Riaaka or shortly
Rdaa. Two traditions have come down to us, as mentioned in old works on
Music, through which Rasa-dance came to be current in Saura^ra. The
technique of Hsya (tender type of dance) was transmitted to U§a, the
daughter of Bapa, by Parvatl out of affection for her. She in turn expounded
it before the lasses of cowherds of Dwarki, which came to be later on handed
down to the ladies of Saurastra in succession. U$a was married to Kffpa’s
grandson Aniruddha. The second source of this dance came from Arjuna,
who was instructed in it by Gandharva Citraratha at the bidding of Indra.
Arjuna transmitted this knowledge (very akin to the Mapipurl dance of
to-day) to Uttara, who was married to Abhimanyu, the son of Subhadra,
Sr! Kirsna’s sister. However, Uttara could not transmit her knowledge of
this dance in the public, owing to her premature widowhood.

Three varieties of dances are mentioned by Saradatanaya in his ‘ Bkava
Prakdsana’ (12th century A. D.) : the danda~rdaaka, the iala-raaaka and the
latd-rdsaka, in the last of which the dancers cling to each other while
dancing, as a creeper clings to a tree, resembling the Western ball-dance of
to-day. Thus ‘ Garabo ’ is pre-eminently a Gujarati institution and women
of Gujarat have preserved this domestic art from generation to generation.

In Gujarat and Saurastra, specialists in music could not thrive for
want of State patronage, as well as for want of general taste among common
men. The vocal contribution of the common people in Gujarat, is seen from
work-songs, folk-songs, grinding-songs, powdering songs and the like. The
common men and women returned to music for solace. There was the work-
song, intended to keep a group of workers in harmony in their action, just
as modern sailors are kept together when they sing at their tasks or as sol-
diers are kept in step by singing as they march.

The other .social contribution to music was the chanting intonation
which the story-teller, either a Bhata, Carapa or a poet-laureate, or a Purapi
or a Kathakara, cultivated when he modulated his voice to fit the meaning
of his narration. The Manabhats and Harikirtanakaras of Gujarat and
Saura^ti^a were- the popular narrators of Paurapic lore throughout the
mediaeval period. The institution though fading in the glare of Cinemas,
Theatres and other public amusements is still doing its mite in the rural
areas, and they can be said to be serving the humanity in that they are
keeping the general Hindu culture alive," throughout the hearts of millions
of men and women. The institution deserves over-hauling, no doubt, but it
has many vital germs in it of future rejuvenation of the Hindu society
at its hands, if a regular training is arranged for securing efiSciency in their

298

CUI.TDBAZ. BISTOBT Of OOJAXAT

mission as well as their literacy, suited to the changed life>conditions of the
coimtry.

It is a long history during which the voice and the musical instrument
have been gradually attuned to one another. The professional bard, a
or or CF5-iIW?noSt, who chanted the hero-stories, did not synchronise

his vocal performances with the sounds from his harp. He struck the harp at
the beginning of the chant and punctuated the pauses in his vocalisation
with instrumental string. It was not until relatively recent times that the
voice and the instrument attempted pitches of the same order. A kind of
artificiality in developed music thus came to be associated.

The scientific or advanced music was known as Marg!, the common
music was called Desi. Because, while the development was going forward
under the influence and support of religion and temple, there was growing
up a body of popular folk-songs, and professional music of a secular
character. Music like every other human institution is the result of a
gradual accumulation of what may be called the social capital.

In the communal life of Gujarat the music has played a very important
part. It is interwoven with the very life of the people. For religious pur-
poses, as well as for social functions, for the rich as well as for the poor,
music is considered indispensable. A marriage function or an entertainment
of any kind without music is practically inconceivable here. Music has
always been recognized as a path to the realization of God, it being included
among the sixteen modes of worship. It has ever been the hand-maiden of
devotion. Till very lately all musical compositions were the spontaneous
outcome of religious zeal and devotion. From the simplest folk-songs to
the wonderfully complex compositions, there, runs through all the various
grades and kinds of music a stream of fervent devotion and selfless
adoration of the Divine. The stories of the various Heroes and Avataras
from Epics and Puranas are written in song in almost all the vernaculars
of India. And our Hindu women used to sing all these as they went about
their household duties. Present-day women are slowly getting further
and further away from our old traditions, the traditicjns which have kept
Indian culture intact, in spite of all the onslaughts made on it. Through,
out the length and breadth of the land, among all classes of people, at all
levels of culture and education, among men as well as women, one finds
music playing a very important part in social life. Old traditions agree that
music is of divine origin and is meant to bean inseparable part of devotion
to the Supreme.

The word ‘ Sangita ’ has three essential components : ‘ Gita ’ (singing),
‘Vadya’ (instrumental accompaniments), and ‘^rtya’ (dance). But when

THE BEUOIOUS FACTOIB : BIUGIOUE OWTmmONB

299

we speak of music ordinarily we only mean the first or the second. Dance
was always associated with and related to singing in ancient times; with
their divorce, the art of dancing has very much deteriorated and fallen into
ill'repute.

The republics of Sura^^ra are already referred to as being noted for
their love of music. The people were described by Arrian as * lovers of
dance and song The musical propensities of Vfisnis are a familiar feature
in Sanskft literature. The Harivamia describes their ball and music.
These are the earliest traditions of music and dancing in Gujarat. The
Hcdlisaka and the Rdsaka are described by Hemacandra in Deii-ndma-mdid
(8/62) as well as in Dhanapala’s Paiyalaechi-n&ma-mald. The circular dance
in which one is the leader, as Sri Kp^nd was among cowherd women,
was called Hallisaka; and a circular concert formed of sixteen, twelve, or
eight males or females — the number rising up to sixty four couples— by
whom a song was sung keeping time and pace, was known as a *Rasaka\
This is the genesis of our mediaeval ‘DapdiS'i'asa’.

Thus ' Rasa ’ or congregational music belonging to a pastoral stage of
society dates in Gujarat from such an early date. The ‘Rasa' of Sri Kp^na in
Gokula on the full-moon day of Asvin was naturally a favourite theme with
many of our Gujarati poets. It was more so, because Gujarat has been the
accredited residence of Sri Kr§na, the popular hero of Gokula and Vrnda-
vana in the later years of his life. Thus it was that the traditions, brought
with him in this country, gained ground making for the culture of the people.

As we trace the origin of Rasa from Sri Krgna, so also the original
home for the ‘Lasya’ dance, peculiarly suited to females, is connected with the
name of Usa, the grand-daughter-in-law of Sri Kri§na. Sarhgadeva (12th
century A. D.) while describing the variety of dance in the 7th chapter of
Sangltaratnakara writes : “Siva made Parvati to expound the technique of
Lasya dance before Bharata, which Parvati taught to U?a; U?a showed
it to the Gopis of Dwarka, who in their turn explained to the women of
Surastra, and from thence the ladies of other countries learnt it : thus was
transmitted the knowledge of this dance in succession.® The tradition about

60 .

ii w ii

ii < ii

vs jrfsfew; i ”

•Sangita-Ratnakara

300

CXn,TURAL HISTORy OP Cn»ASAT

Narsithha Mehta, of his having seen the Basa of Kf ipna in a trance, is sup-
ported by a body of Padas known as * Rasa-sabasrapadi *. It was tite unison
of three things at a time— dancing, clapping and singing— that made a
‘Rasa’." The Gurjarl lady is considered the best in the art of Lasya dance.”

The ' garaho ’ is the next variety of female singing and music peculiar
to Gujarat. It is generally associated with the worship of Sakti in the nine
days’ festival falling in Asvin. It is the autumnal festival that lends a charm
to the midnight songs of Gujarati ladies moving in a circle with perforated
earthen pots with lamps in them shining on the head like stars in firmament.”
Bhanadasa of the late 17th century and Vallabha Bha^t of the 18th century
Sariivat are believed to have first brought into vogue the ‘ Garabo’ for ladies,
who worship the tender Mother in the form of Durga or Sarada. “ A garabo
is a singing party where men but oftener women move round and round in a
circle, and sing to the aci:ompaniment of a rhythmical and uniform clap of
hands”.” A more concentrated piece, less descriptive and treating of one pas-
sion or one situation is known as a * Garahi ’. It is generally recited by ladies.
Dayaram the last representative of mediaeval Gujarati poets, has given
us some exquisite pieces of this kind which are simply unapproachable.

The Brahmin ladies of Gujarat and principally those of the Nagar
caste are said to have kept up the traditions in singing and playing upon
instruments through the course of history. It is seen from a Sanskrt eulogy
dated 1384 A. D. inscribed in a step- well in a village near Junagadh, sunk by
two daughters Harhsa and Jasu of Minister Dhandha, a Nagar by caste, where-
in they are described as well-versed in singing and playing on instruments.”

61. “ g% npt, ^ & d ^ srm :

fw in4 qpt, ^

62. See, Srlkaptha’s Rasakaumudi :

“ sfHrgfrPT^n ft® i ”

63. “ <»i Jn :

JTtI 8?^?t 5[i9ri

*n«i :

*Tit ^^1 tn in <>Rrra'i. ”

— u?.

64. Milestones in Gujarati Literature, by K. M. Jhaveri, p. 35 f.

65. “ ifift W fjiur I ft.® fts^ni^sfl I

I \ Q?r gw II ”

Quoted by Mansankar Mehta in Ndgurotpatti on p. 157 fn. Sixth Gujarati Sihitya
Pari^ad Report.

tHi xsaaenc vactob ahts nAnsunc

391

The ‘Marga* style as outlined by the great musician Bharata does not
seem to have prospered under the Hindu kings of Gujarit. The Northern
Indian style of music which had evolved under the Mughal patronage with
its personal influence does not seem to have gained ground in Gujarat. How-
ever, the reputed singer Baijii (Baijanath-Vaidyanath) who made the
Sultin stop the massacre at Campaner having been pleased by his scientific
music is an exception.* Sultan Mujaffar Shah II (1511-1525 A. D.) of
Gujarat who was a finished horseman, a practised swordsman and a skillful
wrestler has also been described to be an accomplished musician able to play on
many instruments, and to hold his own against any master of musical science.
Under such a lover of music one would have expected noted musicians to
have adorned his court. But the historical chronicles are silent on this point.

We may believe, however, that at least some of the scientific Ragas
were mastered by poets and devotees. The incident mentioned in “Mdmeru”
by Premanand referring to Narsimha Mehta’s invoking rain by singing
Malhara Riga can be cited as a good example. The incident testifies to the
great skill and mastery the devotee-poet had acquired over the particular
type of melody.* Tradition has connected Narsirhha Mehta’s proficiency in
another Riga ‘ Kedara ’ also. When the Vaispava protestant of Jfinagadh
was persecuted at the court of Mandalika, and his devotion was put to a
severe test, he was required to ask God Dimodara to put around his neck
the garland of mogra flowers dedicated to the idol, if his Bhakti was
genuine. His Lord took recourse to a counter-test, and showed his readiness
to help him if he was humoured by a song in Riga Kedara. Narsixhha could
not accede to this desire, as the melody was mortgaged to one Dharapidhar
for a sum of Rs. 60. Unless the pledge was redeemed, Dimodara’s favourite
Riga could not be sung. Tradition has described how Dimodara redeemed
it, assuming the form of Mehti.® The incident suggests that there existed
expert singers in Gujarit, as well as persons who could advance a loan on a
verbal pledge not to sing a Riga.®

66 Mirat-i-Sikandari.t •

67. ‘ittenaftltersnsii,

qwt altig, qq qsti spn^ tii® u ’

— ‘5TR^» ^ V

68. Vide, Narasiihha Mehta Kdvya Sa'ngraha,( 1912),' Haramila ’.

69. df. : A similar story is told of Todi Sitaramayya, who was attached to the

Tiiijore Palace. He was a spendthrift, and often found himself in pecuniary
difficulties. One of his creditors insisted on the payment of a debt due to him
and finding SItfirimayya utterly unable to pay, asked him to pledge his TodI

302

COLTUBAL aiSTOST OF GDJABAT

The groups or man^lta of villagers in Saura^tra and Gujarit are
such masters of the art of producing rhythms that they can beat more than
one rhythm at a time. They tap with the feet at one rate and with the
hands at another. This is a feat which requires much training, because the
natural tendency of the nervous system is to act as a unit and to stimulate
all the motor organs with a single impulse.

The Bhajana was truly a family entertainment — all the inmates of
the house, both old and young, combining after the day’s toil is over, to form
the merry party. “Tarabura and Ekatara open with a simple air, the leader
introduces the theme, seconds and thirds take it up, Dholaka adds its volume,
and the chorus of Mahjira-players joins in, every member not already busy
with some other instrument striking his or her brazen discs— more properly
zinc discs— hence called ‘Kahsi Joda ’, referred to in companies of saints like
Narsiihha Mehta, until the resonant bell-like sound of the pairs of ringing
hands joins with the full-voiced choir, drums, stringed instruments and Kara-
tala— all helping to raise the roof or rather the stars, and to make the welkin
ring. For a time, the whole family is transported into an uproarious com-
pany, intent apparently upon producing the utmost volume of noise. Yet
such is the wonderful combination of string, of bow, of tightened drum, of
voice, of bell and of clashing cymbals that the outstanding effect produced
is of some sudden transportation to a land beyond, where simple folk have
achieved their own paradise and learnt how to extract the last essence of
enjoyment from every day existence.’”®

Raga — a sweet popular melody type — as security, till he discharged the debt.
A few days passed and the prince began to miss the favourite Todi Riga from
Sitaramayyi very badly. When asked about it, the musical expert told his
master how the Riga came to be pledged. The story goes on to say that the
prince was pleased with the ingenuity of the creditor, and not only redeemed
SItaramayyi’s pledge, but gave rich presents to him and to Sitiramayyi.

— Indian Mtisic of the South by R. Srinivisan.

70. Impreuiona of K&thidw&r, by L. K. Elmhirst in Vtivahhdrati Quorterly, April
1924.

Chapter IX

THE LITERARY FACTOR:

LANGUAGE, LITERATURE, EDUCATION

1. Language

Language is one of the fundamentals of gregarious existence. From
language comes literature, and both affect and are affected by the prevailing
conditions of society. The Gujaratis came into contact with many alien
races, with the result that they have a very rich vocabulary, from which our
writers could draw freely at will, nay, they could actually even make a voca-
bulary of their own. Even contemporaries like Padmanabha and Karma^a
Mantri (early 16th century, Vikrama Saihvat), 9§abbadas and Akho (17th
century V. S.), Premanand and SamayasOndar (middle 18th century V. S.),
Samal and Vallabhabhatt (late 18th century V. S.), almost seem to be
talking different languages.

A freedom from any mixture of Persian and Arabic words, as far as
possible, characterises the writers of the Brahmin or non-Jaina school, al-
though Padmanabha’s historical poem, dealing as it docs, with the invasion of
a Muslim adventurer, is an exception. The Jaina writers, however, are
delightfully free from all linguistic restrictions. Their mission of approach-
ing the masses through their own vernacular ind dialects, rendered it
necessary for them to retain or insert local or Desya words, and their style was
still further influenced by their extensive travels. Thus, their style is both
ornate and homely — sometimes too much so ! The Gujarati of the Jaina
Rasas and Prabandhas had always been too difiCcult for the Hindus, while
the language of the Hindus had been too archaic for the Jainas.

Difference in beliefs was thus supplemented by difference in language
and there was a gulf%Ked between Jainas and Hindus to which the attitude of
their writers, one to another, bears eloquent testimony. They simply ignore
one another. For instance Sivadas and ^^abhadas who both wrote in the
second half of the 17th century of the Vikrama Era from Cambay, were as
much strangers to one another as though one hailed from Nandurbar and
the other from Patan. or one from DwSrka and the other from Godhra !

Social and political conditions, also, effectually prevented a healthy
amalgam ation of these two people and their literatures. Social and political

304

CULTUBAL HISTORY OF GDJABAT

conditions further served to keep them and therefore their literattures
away from a healthy amalgamation. The Jaina Hindus were less affected by
the political disturbances in the land than the Gujarati Hindus, as they
could always find asylum at the various Upasrayas, and a feeling of religious
brotherhood prevailed among the Yatis of different Gacchas. The Hindus
had, on the other hand, scarcely a chance to foster and develop their literary
life, and so it was that these two literary currents always flowed apart,
neither of them enriching or being enriched by the other.

Upto the 10th century of the Vikrama Era, the whole of India wrote
and spoke in the Prakrts — Maharas^r! in the South, SaurasenI in the Central
and the Western India, and Magadhi or Ardhamagadhi in the East, while
Sanskft was the common literary language of India as a whole. I'here exist-
ed, however, a stock of ideas common to all the province s of India, a survi-
val of the time when all lived together as a single society, and had a common
language.

Thus each province had a sense of being linked up mentally with
other provinces. Being free to draw upon and borrow from one another as
much as they chose, their various cultures had features in common which
aroused in them a most comforting sense of kinship one vith another, as can
be seen from the writings of Gujarati Sanskrt poets like BhattI (700 A. D.
and Magha (circa 800 A. D.), who wrote for the whole of India and not only
for their own immediate circle or province. Hcmacandra, too, wrote for
the whole of India.

Gujarat! is a mixed language, part Prakrtic and part Sansk^'tic. The
Prakjrt and Desya words generally express simple facts and obvious feelings,
while the Sanskf t words crept in in a later and more reflective age, and were
used to express the shades and subtleties of thought and emotion. The
Ki^atrapas and the Gurjaras brought a non-Sanskrt language and non- Aryan
ideas to Gujarat centuries ago; but traces of the Aryan invasion and occupa-
tion still remained in the land to be supplemented later by Muslim in-
fluences. The Buddhistic rule of Candragupta and Asoka in the 3rd century
B. C., and the activities of missionaries headed by Dh4rmarak§ita, a Yavana,
introduced further novel elements into .the social, political, intellectual,
spiritual and therefore linguistic development of Gujarat.

Then came the Western Ksatrapas and their Hinduised followers, to
be followed by the cultiural invasion of the Gurjaras and their various
branches of Rajaputs — from Kanauj and Bhinmal — a section of whom founded
Anhilwad, after the fall of Valabhipur and Pafleasar. Both of these brought
with them a non-Sanskpt language and non-Aryan ideas; but traces of the

THE LITERARY FACTOR : LANCCAGE, UmtATUMi, KDCCATtON

305

Aryan invasion and occupation still remained in the land, to be suiqpl<Hnented
later by Muslim influences.

Gujarati literature under the later Anhilwad kings went back to
Sanskirt traditions of measure and form, but Sanskrt was not the only lang-
uage favoured by the SolankI patrons of literature. Praki't, and especially
the Apabhraihsa, won a sure recognition through the advocacy of Jaina
scholars who found it a most valuable medium of expression.

The description of the * Rajasabha ’ by Rajasekhara, who flourished at
the beginning of the lOth century A. D., in his “Kavyamimamsa” (G. O.
Series No. I) will not be out of place here. He writes : "On the northern
side of the Rajasabha should be seated Sanski't poets, and behind them
Vaidikas, Logicians, Pauranikas, Smartas, Physicians, Astrologers and such
others; on eastern side the Prakft poets, and behind them the actors, dancers,
singers, musicians, and bards and such others; on the western side the verna-
cular poets and behind them painters, jewel-setters, jewellers, goldsmiths,
carpenters, blacksmiths and such others; on the southern side Paisaca poets,
and behind them paramours and courtezans, rope-dancers, jugglers,
wrestlers and professional soldiers." (pp. 54-55).

Later on, however, it became clear that the Gujaratis had a preference
for their vcrnacular-Apabhraihsa. Rajasekhara says that the people of La^a,
i. e., Gujarat, south of the Mah! up to the Tapti in the south, were decidedly
for Prakrt, and actually disliked Sanskrt'; and Bhoja Deva confirms this.*
The men of Saura?tra, too. were not above interspersing their speech with
Apabhraihsa. The Gujarati poets, both Jaina and non-Jaina, had a decided
partiality for the vernacular, i. e., the later variety of Apabhraihsa as could
be seen from side-remarks that occur.in their poems.

Samala Bhatta has given a regular discourse on the respective merits
of Sanskrt and Prakft, meaning thereby the vernacular of the land : “Sanskrt”
says he, “ is like paddy which must be pounded before it can be

eaten; for, it is difficult to understand and appreciate; whereas Prakrt is like

1 . ‘ (v. 1. ir«w) sRf: i

fstiRT ii ’

also ‘ ®rsl«r; i ’

2. ‘ g^tr. i ’

30

306

CULTURAL HSSTOinr OF GUJARAT

rice ready from the granary, which can be cooked direct. Sanskft is like a gdd
coin, not easily exchanged in the money-market; Prakft is like a copper-
piece, which finds ready acceptance everywhere. Prak]:t is the language of
the bazar, of the accountants of the schools and of the common people. With-
out it, social intercourse is impossible. Local vernaculars and currencies
may not be of much use to aliens, but they are most useful and important
to the natives. One Jaina poet has emphasised the sweetness of Prikft.*

Akho Bhakta is partial to the vernacular as being the best vehicle of
thought and speech; and there is no doubt that Gujarati was the language
of the masses, whereas Sanskrt was favoured only by the select few.'

Gujarati may be regarded as one of the Rajasthan-group of dialects
influenced somewhat by the speech of the Gurjaras in 500 A. D., later on
modified by the Sauraseni speech of Central India. The Western or Marwari
form of Rajasthani is really the immediate sister of Gujarati, for it has been
found that Western Rajasthani and Gujarati derive from the same source-
dialect, which has been called “ Old Western Rajasthani

This Old Western Rajasthani has quite a respectable literature of its
own, mostly Jaina, dating from before the 14th century to the end of the 15th.
Gujarati must have been born in the 16th century (Vikrama Era) and is
now spoken by over 20 millions. The iSauraseni Praki-t and Sauraseni

3. “ yttW ^ «t araia :

uuct ut5» Twr, ff? =aaia, asspr. '

daRpll, afer sr <11^:

jni«T %f5rr, artarc

aFira^i, aaar are:
jniifr ftai are ?

aiaalaral :

fira a^, a^f «i4. "

— (c d to®v), a. ar. at., am

4. “^415 sniCT Ik, 1 ” *.

— aaKream (%. »^?»).

5 . “«?faat g ar41 ag ?, aiffiaf g aRll *ig :

—a#, *am w*.

6. Vide Dr. Tessitori’s article, in Indian Antiquary, 1914*1916.

THE UTSRASY FACTOR : LANGUAGE, LITERATURE. EDUCATION 307X,

ApabhramSa has already modified the original Indo-Aryan dialects spificen
in Rajaputana and Gujarat, as can be seen from extant literature.

The Apabhrathsa verses quoted in the Prak^t Grammar of Hemacan*
dra are in*a dauraseni dialect, which had already become archaic in his time
— «n earlier phase of Old Western Rajasthani. The Prakrta>Paifigala (14th
century), a treatise on Apabhrathki versification, gives in illustration of the
metrical rules a number of poems and couplets, most of which are in the
artificial literary Western Apabhramsa, based on earlier literary Sauraseni.

Jacobi produces evidence from literature and epigraphy, from Bhama-
ha and Dapdi>^i nnd from the inscription of King Dharasena of Valabhl to
show that some form of speech called Apabhramsa was used for literary
purposes as early as the 6th century A. D. The term ‘Apabhramsa* origi-
nally had no special significance, and merely meant “ speech fallen off (from
the norm) , vulgar speech

It was regarded with contempt by savants like Narasimha Mehtg',
Premananda, Samala, Akho and others. It came, however, to be employed
by the masses for their songs and couplets; and, with the growth of popular
literature, came to win recognition from scholars as well. Hemacandra,
evidently following tradition, called this late and literary form of Middle
Indo-Aryan as ‘ Apabhramsa None but the Indo-Aryan dialects spoken in
Gujarat, Rajaputana and Central India are so fortunate as to retain traces
of the Apabhramsa stage, — the stage between the Prakrts of the dramas and
the modern regional languages.

A kind of Sauraseni Apabhramsa was a sort of literary speech for
Northern India in the closing centuries of the 1st millennium A. D., and for
some centuries to follow. The power and prestige of the Rajaput courts,
which had their centres in Central India and the Ganges valley, were re.cpon-
sible for this. The Jainas of Gujarat cultivated it a great deal; and often it
became a mixed dialect. Nagara Apabhramsa, also cultivated by the Jainas,
is probably based on the late Middle Indo-Aryan source dialects of Rajastha-
ni and Gujarati, strongly tinged with Sauraseni. There were similar foims
of Apabhramsa derivetl from the Prakfts. Possibly Sauraseni was the polite
lang uage of the day when people employed a regional language.

Political and social conditions have made Gujarati the language of the
province, although there are dialects enough. From the times of the Solankis

“ 3ITOB tig # ?

— ^ sRfsf^)

7 .

CUI^TURAL aiSTOBY Of QUJAfiAT

the greater part of Gujarat and Saura^tfa formed portions of the central
kingdom. Lafa, Sora^h and Gujarat, however, were still separate provinces
of the kingdom, brought together under the political power in the 12 tfa cen-
tury. The Brahmanas, who had settled in the country very early in the
history of Aryan Gujarat, had first established themselves in Northern
Gujarat, at Anandapura, and in the Western part of the peninsula during the
glorious days of Valabhipura, Bhinmal and Prabhasa, and thence spread to
Southern Gujarat and all over India. They were a separate social unit.

Had there not been some sort of political union under the Muslim rule
from Naharvala, just when the foimdations of the Gujarati language were
laid, had there not been a well-organised Brahmana community all over
Gujarat, and had the Kayasthas not participated in their efforts, the evolu-
tion of a common nationality and a common culture and literature amongst
such a heterogeneous people would have been well-nigh impossible. There
would then have been, linguistically and culturally, three self-contained and
independent Gujarats : Kathiawad or Sorath, North Gujarat and Southern
Gujarat, or Lata — the last two divided by the river Mahi.

Saura§iti^d Gujarat are thus split into two tracts. But the absence
of political union and a common intellectual aristocracy are among the
reasons why the very slight dialectical differences between Kathiawadi-
Gujarati and Tala-Gujarati have not been bridged over by a common literary
speech; and the two peoples speaking these dialects united into one. Besides
its standard form in which literature is composed, Gujarati has several
dialects which are only spoken forms of speech, though almost universally
current among the masses of Gujarat. They are the KathiawadI, the Kacchi,
the Pattaul or North Gujarati, the Carotari or middle Gujarati, and the Suratl
or South Gujarati. The Bhils, on the eastern border, speak their own dialect
— the Bhilll, which bears a close affinity to Gujarati. Some of these dialects
are given a place in modern Gujarati creative literature — particularly in the
Short Story and Fiction — in order to impart local colour to the work.

Of the extra-Gujarati dialects similar to Gujarati, namely, Marawadi
and Marathi, it is the first which approaches Gujarati inmost closely. Mara-
wadi and Gujarati scholars kept up an intimate intellectual communion for
some centuries, but socially Marawadi Brahmanas and Gujarati Brahnianas
formed distinct communities; and when at the end of the 16th century (1578
A. D.; Samvat 1622) Akbar contracted the limits of the Subah of Gujarat,
all communication ceased between Gujarat and Marwad, originally governed
by a common political governor.

The isolated peninsula of Saurai^tra, with her ancient culture, her
contiguity to the sea-coast, her intercourse with foreign nations, and her

THE UTESARY FACTOH : LANGUAGE. LnSHATOIlE, EIHJCATION 309

openness to the cultural influences of foreign traders, would have drifted
away from Gujarat and from the whole of India but for the shrine of D.wdra-
kesa at Dwarka, which had always attracted Hindu pilgrims, and had thus
become a sort of link between the heart of SaurS^tra and the people of
Gujarat; while saint-poets like Narasimha Mehta brought them even closer
together.

The Vai^pava revivals under Vallabha and Swaminarayapa gave a
further impetus to the social unity of the Gujaratis. They gave an exalted
expression to religious impulses and emotions peculiar to the Gujarati alone,
and considerably increased the stock of national literature. With the
Muslim conquest tracts in the different parts of Western India, governed
from Anhilwad, received the common name of Gujarat, which was merely
an extension of the appellation for the people of Northern GujarSt or
Southern Rajaputana.

One feature of the Gujarati language, chiefly due to its double origin,
is an abundance of apparent synonyms which on investigation are found to
be distinguished from one another by fine shades of difference. Gujarati
language and literature seem to have been formed by the mingling of four
dialects : — the Brahmanic of the Brahmin settlers, the Carapic or Bardic of
the martial races that came later on and settled there, the Jainic of the Jaina
converts, who later on formed commercial communities, and the Persian of
the Muslims, the whole mixed up with the miscellaneous speech of other
foreigners, such as the Portuguese. There are, moreover, local or provincial
idioms, so that each town, city, district and community retains a peculiarity
of its own. Hence the proverb : “Speech changes with every twelve
Kos.”"

The Brahmin settlers brought their Sansk|'t and Sauraseni Prafcirt
from the north. The Carapic stream of dialects and literature bears all the
peculiarities of the Rajaput tongues of Rajaputana, Malwa and other tracts
still further north, where it flowed unchecked. Bha^as, Caranas, and other
martial or minstrel classes made poems and sang songs of heroism and
chivalry, made chronicles and wrote annals in the Carapic dialect, which was
universally understood and appreciated throughout the provinces of Gujarat,
Rajaputana and Malwa. The Jainic stream has its source further east, in
Magadhl, the sacred language of the Jainas; and the Jaina monks or Sadhus
were the writers of liturgical, anti-Brahmanic and scientific works in the
dialect. The last stream is fed by the /other races of Gujarat — ^the Parsis,
the Khojas, the Memops and others.

8 .

’I?®?, ^

310

Ctn.TtTBAI. HISTOBV OF GWABAT

Of these four branches, the last three were the most conservative,
being sectional and confined to their own channels, while the first, the main
stream, which may be called Gujarati, is broader and deeper, being con*
stantly in flow and overflow, overstepping its banks and borders, and ever
advancing. Gujarati is thus a language of races that have gone the whole
round of India before settling there. It had connections with sacred languages
and literatures of the early Aryans, no less than with those of the later
Brahmanas, Buddhists, Jainas, Muslims and Parsis.

It clasps hands on the south with Marathi, on the east and north with
Hindi, and on the west and north-west with Sindhi and Pimjabi. Situated
as it is in the centre, the language and literature of Gujarati have absorbed
the most admirable characteristics of its neighbours. It has a rare sweet-
ness, tenderness, richness, and fineness." It does not sound masculine, like
Hindi, or nasal, like Kanarese'" and other Dravidian vernaculars, nor has
it the occasional harshness as of the Marathi palatals, nor the sometimes
flat and sometimes round and hollow sound of the Bengali vowels. Its rich-
ness is due to its catholicity. It has not disdained, when need arose, to
borrow foreign words, both European and Asian.”

It is not a sacred language, as Sanski't is of the Brahmins, Pali of the
Buddhists, Magadhi of the Jainas or Hindi-Braja Bhasa of the Vai^navas;
nor is it a political or court-language like Urdu or Marathi. It is pre-emi-
nently a language of the people.

The Gujarati language consists of four elements: (1) Tat-sama, (2)
Tadbhava, (3) Desi, and (4) Videsi words.

By ‘ tatsama ’ is meant only those words which are identical in form
with Sanskrt. The ‘ tahdhava ’ element is the genuine folk or native element
and stands for those words and forms which underwent a natural modifi-

9. Dr. H. H. Dhruva’s paper at the International Oriental Congress, Stockholm,
1889 (p. 72) : “Gujarati is a language of songs and poetry — the Italian of West-
ern India. ”

10. The Saurastra women, however, are said to have a somewhat nasal speech,

and the is called

‘‘w grO I *•

— «nfoi^

11. “Owing to its maritime connections, the Gujarati language has borrowed
occasional words from other parts of Asia and from Europe. This is specially
marked in the changed Dialect of the Kathiawad boatmen, who travel all over
the world as Lascars on the great steamships. Their language is a mixture of
Uindustiini and Gujarati with a heterogeneous vocabulary .’’ — Encyclopaedia
Brittanica, Vol. 10, (14th Edition), p. 980.

THE I^TERABY FACTOR : LANGUAQB, UKEBATORE. RDCCATION

311

cation through centuries of constant use. This is the very groundwork of
the language, the ve ry beginning of the transformation of the original Aryan
speech into a popular medium of expression.

Side by side, with the 'tadbhava* element, forming, indeed, a part of it,
is a class of words called ‘deit' by Prakft grammarians, obviously derived
from the pre>Aryan languages of the country, Dravidian and Kola. These
include all onomatopoetic and other words which could not be traced to
Sanskft, either because their derivation happened to be obscure and not
obviously traceable to Sanskrt, or because their equivalents were not used
in Sanskft. Hemacandra’s De&indmamaW has scores of such ‘tadbhava
deiV words. The true desi words are relics of the popular dialects
which preceded Aryan speech, and hence aboriginal or ‘of the country*.
In the Apabhrarh la period, ‘ desi* words are as much a native element in
the speech as * tadbhava ’ words.

The 'vtdeii* or Mlechha, i. e., foreign extra-Indian element is more
or less ignored by the older grammarians, first, because the number of for-
eign words was comparatively small, and secondly, because their origin was
not always known. Yet words like (Latin Picus) cuckoo, (Latin
Denarius) a gold coin, jpcq (Greek Drachme) a coin, were recognised as
foreign in ancient times. From the beginning of the 5th century B. C. when
the Persians ruled a part of North-Western India and Persia, there has
been some sort of connection between India and Persia, sometimes intimate,
sometimes distant. Each country influenced the other with the result
that we have a number of Old and Middle Persian words in Indo-Aryan,
down to the period of the Muslim (TurkI) invasions in the 10th century.'*
After the establishment of Muslim rule in India by the Turks, the Tajiks
and the Afghans, Persian was introduced into the country as the language
of administration and as the cultural language of the Muslim courts;
and the Indian vernaculars thus came in direct contact with Persian.

Greek also influenced the language in the middle Indo-Aryan stage.
Greek adventurers and oflScers in Persian service seem to have come to India

• •

12. The words ‘Mihira meaning Sun; ‘Maga’, a class of Brahmins, from the Indian
‘Magus’, a priest of the Zoroastrian faith; 'Pusta’, meaning a book, from the
Middle Persian ‘Posta’ meaning skin, skin for writing, etc., are instances in
point.

The word' Pothi’ (Iranian ‘Posta’, Sanskptised to ‘Pusta’, Pustikd; PrSkft
‘Potthia’ means a book, a MS. in the old lAdian style. The word ‘ Moci’ is from
Mid-Persian Mocaka, meaning shoe, or boot. The word ‘ Sikkah’ of the middle
Persian is said to have been borrowed from the Aramaic ‘ Sykt ’ i. e. ‘ die for
joining ’, which Later Persian introduced into India as the word ‘Sikkah’, a
coined rupee.

312

CULTURAL HISTORY OP GUJARAT

. even before Alexander’s advent in 327 B. C. Intimate relations between
Greeks and Indians began to be established in the next century, and con-
tinued down to the end of 3rd century A. D. The Greek settlers in India,
however, were rapidly Hinduised and absorbed. This contact gave a
number of Indian words to the Greek language, and a number of Greek
words to Sanskrt and the vernaculars. Modern vernaculars have thus in-
herited a number of Persian and Greek words. The word ‘Dam’, meaning
price, and ‘ DamadI’, equal to a small copper piece, have come from Greek.
The word ‘Suranga’, meaning tunnel, has come from the Greek ‘Surink’
(syrinx) and so on.

The influence of Persian on Gujarati speech and literature began to
manifest itself in the beginning of the 14th centiiry. The first Muslim con-
querors of Gujarat (not counting the Arab episode in Sindh and in Valabhi-
pura in the late 8th century) were Turks,'* and not Afghans or Pathans.
Under the Turk! and Afghan rulers, the administration of Gujarat was
left mainly in the hands of Hindu feudatories; and, in the ordinary way, but
little influence could be exerted on the life and language of the people from
the Muslim court at Ahmedabad.

Those of the people, however, that accepted State employment had
naturally to study the language of the Ruler, and those who were not State
employees could not escape its prevailing influence. Thus, to illustrate from
Gujarati literature, as early as A. D. 1398, we find a liberal use of Persian
words, in a poem called ‘ Rana Malta Chanda ’ written by Srldhara Vyasa,
describing the defeat of Zafar Khan, the Subedar of Patan. The terms re-
late to Military and Administrative affairs, and their use is so natural and
in place as to show that they must have been adopted into the language so
long before, as to have become a part of it.

Another poem, called ‘Kanhadde Prahandha\ written soon after (A.D.
1456), describing another Military event at Jhalor, partakes of the same
characteristic ; and ;Samalabhatta, who followed later, though a writer of
stories bearing on the domestic and social life of Gujarat, displays in his
poems a large admixture of Persian words, testifying to^the fact that the terms
had penetrated much farther than administrative ofiices, and were being used
to describe incidents of their inner life. By the time of Premananda, their
novelty had passed off and they had become an integral part of the language.

In Gujarat, Persian really began to make itself felt only in the times of
the Mughals, i. e., from the last quarter of the 16th century. The Turk! and

13. Turk! words like sfill, ‘swat, ?IIW, g«l» are completely natur.

Used in Gujargti.

THE LITBRABy EACTOR : LANGOAGE. UTElMTUBB. EDUCATION

313

Other foreign Muslim rulers who settled in Gujar&t, themselves fell under the.
influence of their subjects; but this contact certainly brought a number of
Arabic and Persian words into Gujarati during the early period of Muslim
rule. The Sultan’s Durbar at Ahmedabad became, in many ways, a model
for the petty chiefs of Gujarlt.

The introduction of Persian as Court-language, and the using of it for
all official records, at the instance of Raja To^armal under Akbar, brought
a still greater influx of Persian terms connected with justice, revenue and
general administration into the Gujarati vocabulary; and the niunber of
such words, even now in use in Gujarati, is quite a large one. Constant
fighting in Gujarat brought in a number of Persian military terms, such as
arrow, bow, ^ execution, fort, battlement or tower,
army, victory, intrenchment, etc.

Persian as the cultural and administrative language of the Muslim
rulers came to be studied by some Hindus in Gujarat, and in the 18th
century it became as common as English is to-day. Brahmin and Kayastha
Munshis taught Persian to sons of rich people, and there were ‘maktabs’
and * madrasahs ’, frequented both by Hindus and Musalmans. A direct and
more intimate connection was established between the capital cities of Delhi
and Agra and the distant Subah of Gujarat. The average Gujarati came in
greater touch with the administrative machinery than before. Gujaratis
found a place in all the departments, executive, judicial, fiscal and military;
and therefore they had to pay greater attention to the Persian language.
Contact with men in the court of the Nazim (military officer) or Viceroy at
Ahmedabad, the Fozdar at Junagadh, the Diwan (civil administrator) and
other Hindu and Muslim officials, sent out from Delhi, brought a greater
refinement, polish, breadth, openness of mind and astuteness to the middle
class Gujarati. New things and ideas came freely to Gujarat, and for a
time Gujarat became truly a province of the Delhi empire.

The Mughal empire united all northern India; and the 17th century,
which witnessed the;[;enitlkof the Mughal power, saw also the establishment
of Hindustani as the lingua franca of India. In the 12th and 13th centmries
India was the battle-ground of two peoples (Hindus and Turkis or Tajiks)
with different sets of ideas. By 1605, when Akbar died, a synthesis had
been effected, and there was born an Indo-Muslim culture of which Hindu-
stani became the vehicle. It came to Gujarat, and more Persian words now
began to be admitted through Hindustani into Gujarati and the other verna-
culars. The result was, that towards the end of the 18th century, the speech
of the higher class Gujaratis, even Hindus, was greatly Persianised, and

314

CULTURAL HISTOBY OF GUJARAT

Persian words admitted as Gujaratised words by most sections of the people,
became parts of the vocabulary, together with a few Persian affixes which
have become thoroughly naturalised.

Of such words, the first in point of number are those relating to
revenue, administration and law; the second to material culture, objects
of luxury, the trades, arts and crafts : thirdly come words pertaining to
kingly state, warfare and chase; and lastly religious words, naturalised and
as understood by Hindus and others; and those dealing with intellectual
culture — education, music, literature and general refinement.

It became obligatory on an average man to be fairly acquainted with
foreign words, and there arose a necessity for explaining them through a
lingua media like Sansk^, in order that they might be understood by people
all over India. These were the small compendiums of Parasl words with
Sanskft equivalents. The system of classification adopted in these is sug-
gestive of the different walks of life through which these words came to be
adopted. To students of social science and linguistics, these ‘Kosas’ provide
very valuable material.

The oldest attempt that has been traced in this direction is the work
called 'Yavana-Ndma-Mala’ OT ' Sahda-Vilasa*, as it is variously known. It is
composed by one Salaksa Mantr! from Western India. The apology offered
for this composition is that ‘ the knowledge of many languages will help at
royal courts in expounding points on astrology, and is thus bound to be
appreciated, even though some purists may not like the idea of acquainting
them with such foreign words’. The next is the ‘ Parasika-Bhdsa-anusasanam ’
or the ‘ Pdram-Ndma-Mdld’ by one Thakkur Vikrama Simha, also from
Western India, born in the Pragvata vaihsa.'

The ‘Pdrst-Prafcdsa’ was composed by one Bihar! Kr^nadasa, under
the patronage of Emperor Akbar (A. D. 1556-1605), with the express desire of
providing a boat, as it were, to enable to swim deep in the wide ocean of
Persian words.

The fourth named ‘Pdrasi-Prakdsa’ or ^ Sf^nskfl-Pdrasi Bhdsaracand’
is composed by an astrologer Maljit, son of Tiggala Bhatta, a resident of
Sristhala (Siddhapura) in North Gujarat, who was patronised and given the
title of ‘ Vedahgaraya ’ (the King of Astrology) by Emperor Shah Jahan in
appreciation of his knowledge of Jyoti^a. It was composed in A. D. 1643 and
was designed to explain through Sanskrt, Persian astrological and other
technical terms in connection with the Phalddesa or the foretelling of the
results of the positions of the stars and planets in a man’s life. ‘Rdja-vyava-
hdra-Kosa* was compiled at the court of Sivaji by Pandit Dhundiraja at the

THE LITERARY E ACTOR : LAMQUAOE, LERERATCtRE. EDUCATION

315

instance of minister Raghunath in 1671 A. D. with a desire to eliminate the
great influx of Persian words in the regional language.

The other foreign elements in the Gujarati language consist of some
words from Portuguese, a few from Dutch or French, and now an ever-in-
creasing number of English words. Gujarat had, from a very early date,
come into contact with the Portug^uese. It is not generally known that it
was a Gujarati Muslim of Cambay, by name Davana, 'Who met Vasco de
Gama’s fleet on the Mozambique coast, and furnished the great navigator
with detailed information regarding the riches of his country, the best possi-
bilities of trade it offered, and the power of its sovereign. Surat, Broach and
Cambay were not known to Portugese shipping. Daman and Diu, the only
two landmarks of their former influence in these parts, which, till last jrear,
belonged to them, have Gujarat! for their vernacular.

The names of the flora and fauna, brought mostly from South Ame-
rica, which the Portuguese introduced into India, were adopted by almost all
the Indian languages. Many articles which were in use among Europeans
were introduced for the first time into India, and the names of these were
borrowed by the people when they learnt to appreciate their usefulness.
Ecclesiastical and nautical terms were borrowed from the Portuguese by
the Gujaratis, the latter of which can be found in Marathi, Gujarati, Kana-
rese and Hindustani as well. But the largest number of words thus natura-
lised have reference to domestic and social life, as for instance :
(pickle), (Biscoito); (Cimesa), (Estirar), (Sorie),and

several others. The Portuguese, obviously not indifferent to the joys of
good living, brought into Gujarat many a term attesting their skill in confec-
tionery and preserve-making; they were the first to introduce European
culinary art into India; their influence in the sphere of dress and clothing is
not inconsiderable.”

II. Literature

The literature embodied in the language of any nation is one of the
moulds of its life, and of the influences which shape its development. It
flows into the national genius and affects its substance. The reverse is also
in some measure true; the literature takes the colour and expresses the
temper of social life. But there are poets and men of letters who seem

14. For a detailed comparative table of words from the Portuguese, showing their
translation in the different vernaculars, see the late Prof. A. X. Soares’ article
on the ‘Portuguese Heritage to the East' in J. B. B. R. A. S., Vol. XXVI (1919).

Also, see his posthumous publication '‘Portuguese Vocables in Asiatic
Languages” (G. O. Series No. 74, 1936).

316

CULTVBAL HlSTOny OF OWABAT

independent of any country and any age. Rising from original springs of
inspiration which seem to flow outside space and time, certain authors like
Narasimha, MirS and Dayaram— mostly writers of devotional songs and
outpourings of the heart, impatient to have the vision of their revered God-
have none the less flowed into the current of the national tradition; and little
as they seem to be affected by it, it has certainly been affected and influ*
enced by them.

It is no easy task to express in just a phrase the general spirit of
Gujarati literature upto the end of the mediaeval period, spreading over
more than eight centuries, both because its volume is so large, and its
writers so vario\is; but we may put it that a predominance of ethical interest,
and an absorption in character and its development characterise most of the
writers. There are few GujarSti men of letters of whom we can say that
they were simply dominated by the artistic impulse. Of non-Jaina authors
Bhalan and Premanand, and Lavanyasamaya, R^bhadas and Samayasundar
from amongst the Jainas, were great artists, undoubtedly; but they did follow
the contemporary social and religious currents of their times, and try to be
torch-bearers to their country men. They may not, indeed, have cherished,
consciously and deliberately, such a purpose; but their gifts of imagination
and expression lifted them high in the sight of men. The influence they
wielded over their contemporaries had a great hand in shaping the national
character and, therefore, the national history. Through metrical romance,
legend, chronicle, ballad and song, they taught lessons that profoundly af-
fected the social life of their times; and the characters they created became
more real to the people than their own kings as described in histories," and
were held up as models before the admiring gaze of the multitude.

In another and a simple way the literature of a country may become
a general influence by means of the view which it gives and the picture it
draws, of the progress of social history and the character of social life. The
view of national history which is enshrined in chronicle or drama, in legen-
dary cycles or in bardic chronicles, becomes, in proportion to the vogue
which it attains, a force in the further shaping 'of ndi:ional history. In this
sphere the legendary figure may be greater than the historical : Vikrama
and Salivahana outshine Bhoja and Siddharaja, and some legendary outlaw
of Sorath matter more than the greatest of the Solankis. Literature, which
is purely imaginative, as are the metrical romances, may be equally an in-

15. The ‘Vikrama cycle’ of stories, in some of the Jaina writings, as well as in
SSmalbhatt’s fascinating tales, are great social inflpepces ip Gujarat, even if
they are not historical documents.

THE ttTESAIiy FACTOR: LANGUAGE. UTSRATURB. EDUCATION

317

fluence with literature, which deals with legend or history. Ihe great
imaginary figures thrown on the screen by the Bomance>writers, Puri^fiias
or Ma^abhattas may catch the imagination to which they are presented; and
seizing and acting on what is presented, men may unconsciously ccmform
themselves to the image of an image. The heroes and heroines of Gujarati
metrical romances, and epic and PaurSnic personages garbed up like men
and women of their own times, presented so many types of hiunan beings to
the society in Gujarat which were held up as models conveying suggestion
to the general instinct of imitation; making as it were “all the world a stage”,
and every man “a player of many parts”.

Literature may also influence social life through the magic words and
phrases with which it stirs the mind and by which it moves the imagination.
In Gujarat proverbs, couplets, and religious catchwords gathered around
themselves a host of glittering associations, becoming more and more potent
with frequency of use and the passage of time. Lines from Narasimha,
Mira, Akho, Samal and other popular and epigrammatic poets; couplets from
saints like Kabir and Tulsidas, lyrics and single lines from Premananda
and Dayaram; and “Bhajanas, Kafis, Cabkhas, Pada, Dohara, or Sakhi from
lesser poets like Dhiro, Bhojo, Pritam, etc., have grown to be parts of the
every-day speech of the women and villagers of Gujarat, and have achieved
the currency of proverbs, differing from mere proverbs in this, however, that
proverbs are, at best, but expressions of a rough country- wisdom or the
smartness of market-places, and very often point half-truths; whereas these
great passages from literature, thus preserved and handed down from genera-
tion to generation, permeated the whole of Gujarati society filtering doira
to its lowest crusts, and sweating and purifying the springs of the social
life of the people.

Literature is art when it is imaginative, as it is thought when it is
reflective or philosophic; but mostly it is really both together. Art is the
expression of Thought; and Thought, to be effective, must be clothed in
some form of Art. Gujarati literature, both Jaina and non-Jaina, deals with
practical life, and is more philosophic than purely artistic, unlike Hindi
literature, where as a role, Alahkara, Riti and Metre were the primary con-
siderations. It seeks to console and inspire, to calm the turbulent passions
of those who hear it sung or recited. That is why the style of Dest sanpfhi
—vernacular music and diction— predominated in the Gujar&ti HSsas,
Prabandhas and Akhyanas during the period under consideration.

16. Bhajanas (prayers); Kd/i» (form of a 14-line stanza used by bhakta Dhiro);
Cabakhis (trenchant sayings resembling lashes, used by Bhojo); Pada
(a lyric); Dohard or Sakhi (self-contained couplets).

318

CULTURAL BISTOBY Or QCJABAT

The general trend of Gujarati literature up to the end of the mediaeval
period was thus largely' objective and universal, rather than subjective and
individualistic. Writers wrote for the people; and the occasional changes
made in the last stanzas of many songs and prayers — generally known as
the ‘Chapa’ of the poem, — ^by imassuming and innocent people prove that
they were regarded as public property and handled as such. Of course”,
this has given rise to deplorable confusion in many cases in the poems of old
poets like Narasimha, Mira and others, for instance, although done by the
scribes in quite good faith. However, that cannot be helped. Social prob-
lems received a good deal of attention also;"* and a definite moral purpose
underlies the Jaina Rasas and Akhyanas of Premananda, such as the
Naldkhyana for example.

Several themes recur in the literature of both the religious sects of
Gujarat and most particularly in the Akhyanas and the Rasas, which have
achieved a wide popularity with the masses. Of these, the Paurapic and
mythological theme — realistic and romantic, legendary and historical, social
and devotional — has again and again caught the imagination of our writers
and they have sought to invest the memory of the past with beauty which
would help to make it an inspiration in the present.

Another recurrent and popular theme is religion; and poets, no less
than preachers, have delighted in playing the Messenger of the Spirit to
unawakened multitudes. Religion inspired much of the Pauranic and epic
literature in Sansk^t, and this was now reproduced, with varying skill and
appeal in the vernacular of the masses. Both before and after the Vaispa-
vite revival, writers sought that very fountain of inspiration at which the
old classical writers in Sanskrt had elated their thirst. On the one hand,
there are the episodes from Ramayana, Mahabharata, Bhagavata and other
Purapas, and on the other, there are the great hymns of Narasimha, Mira,
Vallabhabhatt, Pritam, Bhojo, Dhlro, Brahmananda and Dayaram. Perhaps,
no part of our literature has been more potent, more influential than this.

There is another literature also which though inspired by Religion
lies outside the range of the Pauranic Renaissance 6r Vai§navite revival.
These are the great mystic poets of devout life, haters of all unreality —
Mapdana, Akho, Niranta and others. And there are the writers of

17. An example of this is to be found in SaraavaUcandra, Part IV, a novel by G. M.

Tripathi, where one of his characters Kusuma, singing a popular song of
Mirabai’s, changes the ‘ chapa ’ as in ‘ fgn Bl*! ! 31 ? sgJRr ^

instead of ‘ 41n RfiR ^ ’

18. See, the romantic stories of SamalbhaU*

TRI UTBRABY rACTOB ; LANGUAGE. UTKlUTDRE, EDUCATION 319

allegories— Jayasekharasuri, author of “Prabodha Cintanuu^”; Premfinaada,
author of “ Viveka Vai^azSro”; Jivaram, author of the “Voyage of Jivurfija
Seth ’—the Gujarati ‘ Pilgrims’ Progress’ : these form a class by themselves.

And now we come to another, a rather insignificant element in Guja-
rSt! literature — a pessimism, or a sort of vague fatalism, in which the mind
sought consolation and took refuge from the various political and religious
vicissitudes arising from the vagaries of an apathetic and capricious Govern*
ment. There being no security of person or property to be found in this
world, the people very naturally turned their eyes to another. The * Udya-
ma Karma Sarhvada ’, a dialogue between Action and Fate, by Samalbhatt,
is a conspicuous example of the general mentality of the people. It teaches
by a method of induction, that men must face facts; that they must be honest
with life and their own hearts; that even when they grieve they must yet
endure and conquer. This is the teaching of one of the most characteristic
and recurrent themes of our literature.

It is this so-called pessimism which evoked from the Bhagat-poet
Bhojo the words ‘ JIlfSniT ! 3=11 ^ If ^ I ’ ‘ Oh my soul !

worship the Creator, for life is but a dream ! ’ A writer of to-day is so struck
with this phase of medieval Gujarati literature, that he tends to lose sight of
other gentler phases, and affirms that this persistent speculation regarding
the nothingness of the world and its belongings, and this pseudo-spirit
of renunciation sapped the finer sentiments of the people ; and it was the
modem age, with its literature, shaped by the influences of Western
and other literatures, that was the first to be roused to a sense of the
real enjoyment of life.” Literature, however, is designed to suit all minds in
all their various phases of development, and we can hardly blame those poets
who serve society by supplying the emptional or spiritual needs of a particular
section of human beings. Each type of literature has its own value and appeal.

Over and above the pseudo-religious love-songs written by poets
aroimd the names of Kr^na and Radha or the Gopis, there exists a distinct
kind of literature which is predominantly romantic, not to say erotic. It is
significant that in some of these love-poeihs even the ordinary rule of invok-
ing the help of Sarasvati and Ganesa in the maiigaldcarana has been disre-
garded, and the first and foremost deity to be reverenced and greeted is the
God of Love himself ! In ‘Madhavdnala Kdmakandald’ of Gapapati (Samvat
1584), the author begins with a salute to the son of Rukmini and the husband

19. I mean Sjt. K. M. Munshi’s lecture on im m : GBRl’. The reader

is referred to the answer to this lecture by Principal Anandaiankar Dhruva. in
the columns of Vasanta (1926) under the title sftqspST SSHH’.

320

CULTUBAL HISTOBV OF OUJABAT

of Rati, the great hero Madana, whose feet he warships.** We can well
imagine the kind of story that would be ushered in by such a prologue.
The ‘Bilhana Pancdsikd*—a poem based on a Sanskft poem of the same
name, by one Jhanacarya, provides another instance of this kind of
inversion. Here, too, the first place is assigned to Kandarpa — ^god of Love—
and only the second to the goddess Sarasvati.

Hindu literature in the first three hundred years of the second millen-
nium, when Hindus ruled in Gujarat, was almost entirely in Old Gujarati or
Later Apabhramsa, and its subject-matter mostly Jaina theology. The illus-
trations given in the Prakyt grammar of Hemacandra, some in heroic strain,
others dealing with secular and non-Jaina themes, are our earliest samples
of Gujarati poetry. The innumerable Rasas and Prahandhas of Jaina-
teachers date from this period. These Rasas, i. e., stories or romances with a
moral, usually extolling the Jaina faith, are most interesting, both for their
beauty of style and the very vivid pictures they draw of the manners and
customs of the age.

These Jaina writings are specially renuirkable in that the authors kept
to vernacular of the masses, sometimes even utilising local tunes and folk-
songs — the *Desls' and the ‘Dkolas*. Researches in the mass-music — the ^5fts
of Gujarat, and how they were used by writers in longer narratives — ^the
mythological poems known as ‘ Akhyanas’ — would prove both profitable and
interesting. It would help to establish the debt we owe to the source-dialect
— Old Western Rajasthani, since Marwadi tunes crept into both the
marriage-songs and the Akhyana poetry of the Gujaratis. The Jaina writers
usually quote the first lines of the original songs whose tunes they may have
adopted for their purposes. The varying Ddiis of different provinces have
special names of their own : viz. ‘Maru’ from Marwar, ‘ Godi ’ from Gauda-
Bengal, ‘ Veradi ’ from Berar, ‘ Gurjari ’ from Gujarat (in the Punjab), and
so forth. The ‘Glta-Gouindo’ of Jayadeva— believed by some to have been
originally composed in Praktl; Prabandhas and afterwards dubbed in
Sanskrt, — utilises the ‘ Desi ’ prabandha for a classical theme.®

20. “ wi JtR I " ■

sr«w ^ sre srnm ii ”

21. “ I ^ ajffsr n

w § smaft i fnOtoit hO i
^ i jw arfirutr ti ”

22. Sarfigadeva of the 13th century A.D. in his ‘Sanglta Ratnakara' has defined
^DesV as follows;—

gw ^ qra ii

THE LITERARY FACTOR : LANGUAGSi UTHilMYURB. n>CCATION

321

Much of the bardic and folk-literature of Sorath can be traced to this
early period, its gradual growth corresponding to the change of political
conditions in the peninsula. Sauri^fra has always been the land of chivalry
and romance. Tales of love and truth and chivalry, of devotion and loyalty
of devotees and saints have been preserved to this day not as written record,
but by oral tradition. This indigenous ballad literature peculiar to Kathia-
wa^ is remarkable in two ways : It is in couplets, and in the strange-
sounding, racy dialect of that province. The stray Doh&s are as beads in a
rosary strung together by a thread of prose which is supplied by the
narrator. Occasionally a whole incident hinges on a couplet or two, which
are epigrammatic, and highly condensed in thought. The other arresting
feature of this popular literature is the glimpses it gives of the social life of
the people of the province, wild, romantic and chivalrous. Hence, quite
apart from their linguistic value, these folksongs, fairy-tales, riddles and
proverbs help to throw a good deal of light upon the ancient traditions,
manners and customs of the people of Sorath in particular, and of Gujarat
in general. This is the Balladic literature— in old Gujarati or Antima
Apabhraihsa — which has never waned in popularity, and has retained its
characteristics even up to the last century. This is now known vaguely as
‘ Folk-Literature ’.

The poets of Gujarat had as hard a time as their 'country, and their
themes therefore were somewhat limited. But their poetry is none the less
real poetry. The Muslim Sultans who came to rule in this part of India did
not withhold political advancement from individual Hindu subjects; but it
was by no means free for all Hindus. There were but few powerful Rajaputs
who could patronise the poetry of chivalry and war; so the Hindus were con-
fined to their homes and the industries. Agriculture was practised, as at
present, by certain illiterate classes, who had to labour in the midst of robbery
and ofBcial oppression, from which neither the Sultans nor the Imperial
Viceroys could save them.

Poetry, the offgpring;of leisure, was thus banished to the domestic
hearths of the home-keeping people, to temples, towns and villages. The
Marathas succeeded the Muslims, and their rule was not more conducive to
open-air poetry than that of their predecessors. But outside those cities and
towns which had become centres of political activity and intrigue, there was
the large mofussU, and this was not touched, except for the collection of
revenue. Here, left to themselves, the landlords and merchants, albeit them-
selves illiterate and unable to sing, formed a great market where a demand

for poetry of some kind could be created; for they had an inherent love for

21

322

CULTURAL HISTORY OT GUJARAT

poetry, and the wherewithal to indulge it. and men were not wanting who
could elevate and satisfy their souls. Women, too, would listen to the songs,
and, wherever possible, join in the singing as did Miri, Indr&vat!, JanibSi,
Divalibil, GauribS! and Puribal.

The soil of Gujarat is peculiarly suitable for the growth of religious
ideals; for, the people of the areas are very simple, credulous and God-fear-
ing. They revered and delighted in the Sadhus, Veragis or Mahantas who
occasionally founded local temples and whose sanctity or occult powers
arrested their attention and infused sweetness, novelty and devotion in their
uneventful lives. Moreover, people took refuge in religion from troubles
arising from the endless raids and invasions of foreign adventurers. The
constant emigrations of the Rajaputs and other political classes left a residue
of peaceful and home-keeping people, who had no means of resisting
oppression and anarchy, save with the weapon of religion alone. Their
hearts, therefore, turned eagerly to all that had power to soothe, console or
elevate.

Each locality had its own traditions, and was quite willing to have
them embodied in myth and fiction. Some clever psychologist would then
come along and set up a suitable religion for the people; for religion is often
a mixture of poetry and philosophy. Gujarat is a hospitable land, and
very open-minded; so votaries of almost every sect in India, both Hindu and
Islamic, found adherents there. Misfortune is the womb of poetry, so there
was no dearth of poets in Gujarat either; but, as we have said above, the
very causes which created the poetry of the land, also confined its theme to
religion.

Poetry thus became the body of religion, reproducing again on earth
men and women of those Satya and other Yugas, to which the hearts of the
religiously disposed masses were turning with wishful longing. But the
garb of religion could not wholly veil the true poetic instinct; the Jaina Yati
expounding some episode from Jaina mythology, or the Brahmanical poet,
rehandling the incidents in the lives of great Pauranic figures, in service of
his philosophy or his temple, but gave tongue to Ihe mysteries in the depths
of his own heart, or reflected the longings* and aspirations which animated
men and women of his own times.

The political vicissitudes of Gujarat continued throughout the middle
ages, and its people had no other interest save the economic, social or religi-
ous. The province had always yielded a rich harvest of merchants, who
covered not only the whole of India but travelled beyond the seas. These
children of industry and enterprise were soft and gentle at home, and the

THE uraBABY rACTOB : LAMGUACHC, UTSBATOBE. EDDCATIOH 323

poetry of the Bhakti school had a special charm for them, and yielded ' tihem
a sort of mental recreation. The lesser poets of GujarSt— mostly Bhagats^
supplied society with intellectual religious consolation, and moral straigth
during an epoch of political and moral disasters. When village was sevwed
from village by wars and plunders, and when industry and intercrnmnuni*
cation were destroyed, the village-poet, became a torch in the surrounding
gloom, fervidly exhorting his people to stand firm in the midst of its adver-
sities. In happier times, his poems were taken to other localities to brighten
their darkness.

It is a noteworthy fact that the poets of the land came from all castes
— from the Brahmins and Vaisyas, both Jaina and Vai?pava, forming the
middle class; from the goldsmiths, cloth-dyers, cloth-glazers, Bhatas, Cira-
tias and even barbers, forming the artisan class; some from the agricultural
class; and lastly several from the mendicant class— the Jaina Yatis and
Hindu Sadhus. This shows how the general culture of Gujarat was evenly
distributed amongst its people, and equally cherished by the literate and
the illiterate ; and also how the stream of common traditions and ideals had
continued to flow from the highest to the lowest, drenching the social life of
the whole Hindu section in Gujarat, to such an extent that in later times
conversion from Hinduism by foreign missionaries had become almost an
impossibility. Sahajananda came as a Saviour of the Depressed-Sudra-
classes, and even of the untouchables. One Nirmaldas purified many Ka^abis
who had become Matia converts to Islam.

Women writers were not lacking either. Women are freer in Gujarat
than, perhaps, in any other part of India, as can be seen from the fact that
they observe no Purdah, and never did observe it even when Muslims ruled
the land. This perhaps was partly due to the people having been kept at
arm’s length from the rulers. Women, here, sang both in their houses and
abroad in the higher castes; and, if they were secluded at all, it was in those
very castes and localities where songs were neither sung nor appreciated.
All poetesses have came from the higher castes, and they have had no hesi-
tation in stepping in where their brothers of the pen have trod. They have
lived as wives, as widows, and as Sadhvis, and, in whatsoever capacity they
have sung, men have heard and respected them. In the provinces where the
poets of the middle ages lived and sang, women have always enjoyed
freedom and exercised a very great influence on those around them, except
amongst those land-holding and political classes who followed the practices
of the Muslim rulers with whom they were in touch. The BaniS and the
BrShmin women were free.

324

CtILTURAL HISTORY OF GUJARAT

Gujarat! poetry thus knew neither sex nor caste, although GujarSt is
known as a ‘land of castes’, and caste>distinctions are sharper and subtler
here than in any other part of India. In matters of poetry and religion, the
people were prepared to love and honour” all castes and to accept gifts from
all, unhesitatingly and gratefully.

The mediaeval Gujarati literature, like the literature of other regional
languages in India, was largely the work of Brahmana writers. There were,
however, other great laymen from other castes. It was under the inspira-
tion of religion and the preachings of the Brahmanas and the Yatis that
Gujaritl literature was largely religious and occasionally secular. Even
when poems were written by non-Brahmins like Nakara (Saihvat 1572 to
1624), a Vaisya from Baroda, they were read out before the society by the
Brahmanas only. Nakara used to give his compositions in charity to
Brahmin Purapis who subsisted on the income derived from their public
recitals. So also we have another example of Haridas, a Vaisya disciple of
Premanand, who had composed “ iSdmala <$dha-no Vivdha’ in Samvat 1725,
and had given it over in charity to one Adhara Bha^t. Thus Brahmanas
were not ousted from their position as the educators, purifiers and guides of
the society; in spite of their being quite below the mark of their profession,
they commanded respect due only to birth in a higher caste. The society
owes to this class a debt for its service in the field of religious education
through literature. “ Men of letters are a perpetual priesthood, from age to
age, teaching all men that a God is still present in their life.” (Carlyle).

During the Paurapic Renaissance that followed the revival of Hindu-
ism under the preachings of Masters like Ramanuja, Madhva, Nimbarka,
Vallabha and Caitanya, and of saints like Ramananda, Kabir, Nanak and
others, the creed of devotion and trust in God spread far and wide in the
land in the form of Vaisnavism. This took no heed of the caste and sex of
the devotee, demanding only an unshakable devotion, which was nothing,
really, except attachment to worldly things and ideas, purified and

transmuted into Bhakti or supreme attachment to God, as Narada says in
his Bhakti Sutras. There was everywhere a tendency to reform life,
social as well as religious; and of course^ literature could not escape the

23. “ If a lady in Gujarat sings with the divine powers of a poet, the proudest man
has only to forget that she is one of the sex, over whom he is accustomed to
rule, and he has only to think that she is his mother. If it is a BaniyS or Kapabi,
who subdues the heart of the proud Brahmin, with his poetry, the Brahmin
has only to think that caste-distinctions are confined to matters of food and
drink, and that the human soul is never contaminated by the body being that
of an inferior caste. Classical Poets of Gujarat (1891), by G. M. Trip&thi.

THE tITXRABT FACTOB : IiANCFCACSS, UTCBATUBE. IDVCATION

32 S

contagion. Sanskpt theology and religion, Pur&^as and Epics, so long xeligi-
ously veiled from the gaze of the uncultivated, were now thrown open to
the public through vernacular recensions.**

Gujarati recensions of Sanskpt works during the mediaeval period
were, as a rule, more free than literal, being meant for the masses. Learned
people read the originals, and had no desire to read them again in GujarSti.
In order to impress more effectually the plastic minds of the common people,
as also to suit their intellectual capacity, the original text had to undergo
certain modifications in Gujarati.®

Popular poets and story-tellers introduced into the GujarSti-texts
stories, episodes and descriptions not to be found in the Sanskft originals.”
This was greatly to the taste of the people whom they were meant to please

24. Premanand, sympathising with the illiteracy of the masses, and being
moved by the apathetic attitude of Sanskrt-knowing PurSpis towards them,
writes: —

“ *>«n snoft I M a>nt ii

^ ^ ? I w w aj? ii

miitr 1 juir ii

— 511®!.

25. Cf. Bhalap’s object in adapting ‘Kddomborr. as well as * Naldkhydna ’ into verna-
cular of the masses: —

(i) W sRft 3^ I

aqjtr, fiftot to 'i* i

1!I%JI =3tg<t, &OT5T II

31% 4%^% Sf % nidi, *T5i sTOi I

»%g, jftdl s!% sro n

^5 8fil5, «!!®f®i *rm-TO ii ”

(ii) “Srav, -ax, JTiRPCiRi, s51% 8!% sspii |

W»I>r SftS^^T Wl3t, MRRi g II

Jf gTO r# i

sOTt->TO VC n ”

26. To give one example ; The incident about the former birth of Abhimanyu, as
a demon, whose father was cunningly made to perish by Sri Kr$oa, and his
being reborn as Krsoa’s cousin in order to wreak vengeance, is the clever
invention of a Gujarati poet, Dehal, of the 16th century of the Vikrama era.
Nowhere is it to be found in the Sanskpt Mahibhirata or in any of the other
vernaculars. A Sanskrt work ‘Abhimanyu upakhydna’ linked up with the
Drops Parva, in 20 Adhyayas is traced by me, also composed in Gujarfit.--(My
edition of Tapidasa’s Abhimanyu Akhy&na (1708 Saihvat), Introduction,
p. 36, 1844).

326

CULTDRAI. mSTOBY OF GWABAT

and impress. Evep translations were sometimes freer than the canons of
strict accuracy permitted in spirit as in letter." These literary sins, again,
were of omission as well as of commission, the more difficult passages, philo>
sophical as well as literary, of the Sanskrt originals being frequently omitted
in the translations, out of consideration for the intellectual limitations of the
readers. For instance, almost all the Parvas of the Mahabharata together
with the Bhagavad-Gita have been translated into Gujarati, but the Santi
Parva, full of theological discussions, beyond the understanding of the illite*
rate man in the street, has been left severely alone. One seldom finds purely
didactic and theological discussions even in the Jaina writings of the period.
They seem to have believed more in touching the hearts than in convincing
the heads of their readers. These translations, therefore, were generally
shorter than the Sanskrt originals.

With the growth of a taste for semi-religious tales from the epics and
the Purapas, the metaphors and similes with which Sanskft abounds, began
to be freely borrowed for the embellishment of the vernacular, and even the
villagers became familiarised with them. These metaphors were often trans-
lated regardless of appropriateness. A woman^s gait would be compared,
for instance, with that of an elephant. A shapely nose was always like the
beak of a parrot or the flame of a lamp. A graceful girl could suggest noth-
ing but a swan — as though a swan were the only graceful thing in nature.
Set and hackneyed similes like these became an absolute craze with the
Gujarati poets and a regular nuisance to the discriminating reader.” In an
age when forests abounded and men lived close to nature, swans and ele-
phants were familiar sights, arresting the eyes and firing the imagination of

27. Compare how Preminand explains his position when he undertakes to follow
closely the theme of ‘Daiama Skandha’: —

5rPB fipurg i ii

% PR & ^ m I ^ 5 trUCT It

wi-Jim *1% RW 1 stie ^ II
•ir «npr wnp P’lftr i pt w sniip ii
an nipt aiotpf f^-pw I an mpi nrami n

«np-ni<<Il an# nnr i nrsn nwr ii *•

I bm ^ II ”

— m, »i«nn t

28. Bh&lapa’s poetical rendering of the Sanskft WfO is an exception. 6amal-
bhatt’s descriptions of his heroines, to quote an extreme example, may easily

, be interchanged with any other, without the least detriment to the tmity and
harmony of his narrative.

THE UTERABT FACTOB : LANOOAGB, UTtBATUBX. KDVCATKHf 327

the romantically inclined. But forests, elephants and swans are no longer
parts of our everyday experience; and so these similes have ceased to be
appropriate, and, in many cases, have become positively absurd.

All this notwithstanding, it must be admitted that the importation of
choice Sansk]i; phrases and expressions did a great deal towards enriching
our language, and raising a simple dialect to the dignity of a finished and
mellifluous language. A great literature came into being, comprising innu*
merable translations and expositions of Sanskrt works, and there was hardly
a villager in Gujarat who did not know and revere the great heroes who
dominate our ancient myths and histories, and who did not feel himself
strengthened and uplifted by their noble example. The Paurapic women
play a part in no way less heroic than the men, and there was not a woman
in the land but loved them as her ideal. Renunciation for the sake of truth,
purity, filial devotion, selflessness, unflinching fidelity to an ideal; tender-
ness, sweetness, sacrifice, courage, an almost fanatical chastity, a flaming
devotion to God — these were the great ideas which came to fill the minds
and hearts, and shape the characters of our illiterate but idealistic masses;
and who can compute their value ?

The way in which all this came about is interesting. Those who could
read, recited these translated works to those who could not; but it was
the professional .singers mainly Brahmins who really popularized the
Paurapic stories. ®

Gujarat has a kind of domestic literature of its own, — a poetry of
family life and the homelier social pleasures, of whose spiritual value the
singers were ever roost joyfully conscious; and Bhakti, which means stand-

29. “In Gujarat there is an institution of Purapa-reciters called ‘Gagaria Bhatta’
or ‘Mapa Bhatta’. They are Brahmins and their business is to recite before
large audiences with suitable comments and illustrations accompanied by
music, soul-stirring epics like those of the Mahabharata and the HSmSyapa.
The verses are mostly of their own, and while singing them, they keep time
by means of striking an iron ring, put on their little fingers, against a large,
round, narrow-necked copper vessel called Gagar or Mipa. Even at the
present day the iifttitutibn exists, though it is not flourishing as of yore.

A clever reciter carries the audiences with him by his manner of repro-
ducing the incidents vividly before them. Any night, in the streets of Broach,
Surat, Ahmedabad, or Barova one can see the Bhatta now swaying his audi-
ence by means of his apt illustrations, and again exciting them to the very
highest pitch of feeling, by himself sympathetically half rising from his seat,
in the narration of a spirited dialogue, like that of Duryodhana and Bhlma or
Karpa and Arjuna, when they meet face to face. These Puripa-reciters were
a great power in the land before modern education and printing presses
brought books to the homes of the people.’’— -D. B. K. M. Jhaveri’s Milestones in
Gttjordtt Literature ; Second edition (1938), pp. 92-93.

328

CULTUSAL HISTOBY OF GUJARAT

ing in the presence of God, serving Him, loving Him, being loved by Him,
hearing Him, becoming part of Him through the ecstasy of devotion, is its
soul and essence. God is neither Man nor Woman and yet He is botb— for He
is all and everywhere. Man, therefore, was first taught to conceive Him as a
Being with human attributes until his love could grow abstract and his mind
soar above the limitations of Name and Form. He was to be sought as a
friend or a brother by a man, or as a child or a husband by a woman and all
men and women could find God exactly as they wanted Him— if they wanted
Him intensely enough : That was the only condition.'”

The greater part of Indian literature is religious because God, with us,
is not a distant God. He belongs to our homes as well as our temples. We
feel His immanence in all the dear human relationships which sweeten and
enrich our lives, and in all our festivities. He is the Guest of Honour. The
seasons are the marks of His Passing Feet, and we worship Him in all that
inspires our reverence and love Him in all that we truly love. In the good*
ness of women we feel Him ; in our children He is bom again and again, the
Eternal Child. Therefore, religious songs are our love songs, and domestic
happenings such as the birth of a son, or the return and departure of a
married daughter, find a place in our literature, whose counterpart is in the
divine." So also, women in Gujarat found their mother in a Goddess, and
their lover in Krsna, and their songs are full of both, and instinct with a
vivid consciousness of that other world which is the real background to this.

30. VallabhScarya has compressed the gist of his philosophy and his message in
the four verses, known as The following first line from it : “fF^

a|5irft<r; | ” has been expounded by his son Vitthalesvara in his
commentary thereon, written in Vrajbhasa prose, from which I reproduce a
portion : —

s^t 3^^ «R t ^ | sift,

^ ^ ^ qt i srq ^ 3 ?wr «rji

fit 1 81 W % ^It ^ %lt fim Jift I, ^ fiR

, firam wfi I, i; sRit i ^ Jimi va sH

1 1 ? I ’pSIi qff^^ i qifth ? i ftw:, m wr f i

^ »1%»1R% 41 ^ »Ttq>R% qfiWR# *I3r!T feqt dlJWl 'S8 41^ IB ^

•'RiBrFqft I BRl Bq BR Rqi fw Rfei fit i”

From a MS. in my collection-

.31. ; Most of our' marriage-songs are apparently designed for the divine pairs of
and ‘ttla't, 3«tT and sifjR?; 41rB and alfwi and aSRft or BB and 4hlT,

and invest our commonest social customs with a peculiarly spiritual
significdnce,

TBS UTERABT FACTOR; LANGOAOE. LITEBATURE. EDUCATION

The poem of Narasimha and Mira filled the minds of people With
fairy>like visions of Krsna and his Gokul>Vrndavan Lila, and became -the
nucleus of all subsequent literature on the subject. Their extraordinary
popularity is due to the fact that they express, most beautifully and yet
with an enchanting simplicity, the deepest yearnings of the Gujaritl heart.
They are transcendental without being too obscurely mystic. They blend
Human and Divine into an ecstatic harmony. Thus it was that Mother
JaSodS became the model and, as it were, the mouthpiece of Gujarat!
mothers, and the hearts of the dwellers of Gokul, pouring love upon the tiny
Kanaiya, were the hearts of all babydovers."

Gujarat has been, since very ancient times, the devotee of Sri Kf^na;
for His chief seat was at Dwarka, and His Yadavas lived in Gujarat. And
therefore, when devotees sang of Sri Krsna, all Gujarat sang with them.
Both Mirabal and Narasirhha Mehta differ from ordinary devotees in this,
that there is an almost passionately human note in their devotion which
pierces deep to the very core of one’s heart. All the women of Gujarat
adore with Mira, as all the men worship with Narasimha. As for Prema-
nand, there is no theme dear to the heart of Gujarat which he has not
touched, and touching, raised to the level of a classic ; for he knows the human
heart as does no other, and his sympathy and loving kindness are simply
unique. The songs of Dayarama, although confined to the Vaisnava cult,
have a haunting beauty which clings to the mind and makes their memory
a joy.

The philosophic, satiric and didactic strain in Gujarati poetry is worth
considering here. Narasimha, Mandana, Akho, Bhojo, Dhiro, Narbheram,
Niskulanand and many others were in Gujarat what the prophets were in
Old Israel. They stood firm against the pretensions of the priesthood and
advocated a liberal spiritual religion, decrying the hide-bound and lifeless
‘ religion ’ of much ceremonial and little real faith.

Akho and Samal are the best representatives of the town and the
countryside, respectively. The former has attacked some of the prejudices
of his time and town with an unsparing tongue, while the latter deals in
lyric tales of King Bhoja and Vikrama and his didactic verses, both wise
and witty, have almost passed into proverbs. Akho’s verses, notable for

32. It is significant that the ‘Dasama Skandha ’ of Bhagavata Purapa which deals
primarily with the episodes of Sri Kr$pa*s romantic childhood has been trans-
lated into Gujarati by many poets, simply because it offers a scope for singing
the poetry of the home and the hearth, and also of domestic joys and sorrows.
Bhglapa, Lak$midas, Bhima, Premanand, RatneSwar, Puja and others may be
named. Bhalapa and Puribai have sung of the childhood of Rama also.

330

CULTOBAl. HlSTOjnr OF GOJARAT

their biting satire and caustic wit, have all the directness (sometimes even
the vulgarity) of common speech, and his writings are whips of scorpions
to the humbugs and pretenders of this world.

Close association with the different sects of ascetics — ^B3vas, Veragis
and Sadhus — ^has enabled these moralist-poets to make a careful study of
their morals and their hypocrisies and they have spared no pains to drag
such sham 'saints’ and ‘ascetics’ down from their self-erected pedestals and,
stripping them of all hollow pretensions, to hold them up to public ridicule
and execration wherever possible. Nor have they spared the world with
its delusive joys and its fatal allurements — ^the fickleness of wealth and
women, the unreliability of all human relationships, the uncertainty of life
itself. And so true and forceful are their words that many of their verses
have become common literary property and a part of ordinary household
speech. “ Their poems are the Bible of the common people, their Psalter and
Prayer-book. It is through recitation of these poems that most of the
people learn all they know of religion and mythology, of faith and hope
and duty ; of sin and guilt and punishment; of truth and righteousness and
devotion.”"

The rainy season is the delight of Indian hearts. Coolness after
sweltering heat, freshness and energy after the lassitude of the hot months;
living, riotous greenness after the monotony of dry dusty colourlessness —
these it brings, and the people acclaim it with joyous hearts and songs of
gladness. The Rain-God is their King ^ ?).

Rain is spoken of as the King-consort of the Earth in popular songs

^ ^ l). No wonder he is welcomed; for without him life could

not subsist in India. Hence rain-charm's, rain-songs, rain-festivals are
integral parts of the social life of the Gujaratis. Rain has a spiritual signi-
ficance for the people of Gujarat, and it is expressed in the suggestive
imagery of a union between Sky and Earth. The mare and the cow — whose
sons are indispensable in war and in agriculture — are regarded as the real
forms of Energy created by God." ^

33. Rev. Dr. H. R. Scott’s paper on " Gujarati Poetry ” ( 1920), p.

34. “'WfW «ia ^ smi I vrcal % <1% arm n

— ^ an^^o

siiJt I ^ m II—

'roftat aa fipjif > wnt i ^ »ii?r ii—

31# > I ^ 1^51 II

THE LirmBY EACTOB : I^OtTAGt, UTERATUBB. EVOCATION

381

Vdfeyas’” are the hphorisms of Bha^ali, prognoatieating
specially the state of weather in the rainy season; and based on certain
phenomena in nature. They are the “Bible of the Agriculturists**. According
to this woman astrologer, certain atmospheric conditions on a certain day or
in a certain month, presage a satisfactory or a disappointing monsoon. Her
statements are as concise and definite as the Sfitras of the Dharma Bistras,
and are extremely popular with the masses, confined as they are to agri-
cultural subjects alone. They are the outcome of an accurate observation
of nature, and have a special bearing on the soil and climate of Western
India, including Gujarat, and so are exceedingly useful, having been regarded
indeed as quite infallible by the agriculturists of this province, who have
tested them and found them almost invariably true. The short sentences
such as

and ^ 3^, d '?R 3 ^ fSTH I ”

are soon committed to memory, and every woman and child in rural Gujarat
knows them by heart. It is not quite certain who originally composed these
'Vakyas* and when, and in what language; but since they are equally
popular with the peasantry in Marwar and in Southern Rajputani (where
the old Gurjara kingdom had its seat before the tenth century A. D.) we may
take it that they are the common heritage of both. An exact counterpart
of them is to be found in an ancient Bengali collection called ‘Khannar
Vacana.* — (Sen, ‘History of Bengali Literature’, page 19).

To quote one of these by way of illustration: “If rain does not begin
to pour down five days before Sravana, then a wife would say to her hus-
band, ‘ You better go to Malwa (to earn) and I would go to my father’s
house ’, meaning that the monsoon would fail, and they should close their
house’’.* Another couplet says : “If on the full Moon day of Magha, the
moon is not clear, then sell off the cattle and store up grain, for it is certain
there will be great scarcity of fodder and water.’”*

■ • •

35. Bhadali, or Bhaddan as she is called, was the only daughter of Hud&d, a well-
known astrologer of Marwar, who, having no son, had taught this science to
his daughter.

36. “araojqlei'irafesi, bf I

fig wi?! ^ ii ” —

— D. B. K. M. JhaverFs Mileatones in Gujarati Literatur0, p. 268.

37. “Jm I

«« ^ II ”

332

CUtTUSAL HISTORY OF GUJARAT

The GujarSt! agriculturist curiot&ly enough is not a fatalist as some
popular proverbs can prove. Tillage, Manure and a Water>supp]y-^these
three are enough to bring one a fortune.* Another proverb says : “a pair
of bullocks, servants, a wife bringing the mid-day meal to the fields and the
master of all these, present on the spot, to see that work is well done — how
can there not be a good crop ?® The arduous life of these broad-hearted
and devoted tillers of the soil is graphically depicted by Samalbha^t in his
“Batris Putali” stories (Bhabhdram ni Varta), known as ‘Kanabi na Mabina'
(the twelve months cycle of a Kanabi). In one of these stories — namely
Bhahharam nt Vartd— he gives as a reason for the widow-remarriages
amongst the Kapabis, namely, the necessity for propagating and preserving
the agriculturist, on whose existence the existence of all society depends.

As we have already seen, the poets of Gujarat seldom sung about
mountains and meadows. But in that form of literature known as
‘Baramasi’, and ‘Rtus’, they have described the various seasons,
their changes and peculiar beauties, in a manner most human and appealing.
Gujarat offers but little scope for the poetry of nature, there being nothing
particularly arresting in its scenery. Still, the subtle changes in the atmos-
phere and the ways of life, in the dress, food and pastimes of the people with
the change in seasons, are beautifully depicted by the Gujarati poets in
this particular kind of poetry, which concerns itself chiefly with Krsna
and RMha,® Neminath and Rajul, Sthulibhadra and Kosya, Rama and Slta,
and whose heroes and heroines are invariably typical Gujarati men and
women.

The seasonal songs constitute one of the pi-incipal items in the repertory
of popular feminine music all over India even now, and especially so in
Gujarat and Bengal, where the women of all classes enjoy a degree of
freedom not generally known north of the Vindhyas.

Another kind of Baramasi poetry, very common in mediaeval Gujarati
literature, is devoted to the feelings of parted lovers during the various
months of the year. The monsoon months are described as being the most

38. WT, ^ 1 mflft II ” *.

39. erjII snO *IRr I

^ ?IM ^ HW : sw ’I % ”

40. Says Radhik&; “The Earth is garbed in green verdure, the trees have blos-
somed, the birds have made their nests, there is water everywhere, the Jogis
have ceased from pilgrimage ... Come, O, come, my Lord, Then why art
thou not here ? ’*

— “Bara Masa”, by Poet Ratno, on Month A$i^ha.

THE LITERABY FACTOR ; LANGUAGE, LITBBATURB. EDUCATION

833

tsying for women, whose males are away in distant lands earning their liveli-
hood, for, the rains interpose an obstacle to their return, apart from render-
ing all commimication impossible. These folk-songs are truly touching.
There is one song in which a woman wants to buy something from a party
of Bapajharas, whose caravans have halted just at the outskirts of her
village. But what is the use ? For her husband, who would have fixed the
price and paid it for her, is away in foreign lands. f

The songs depicting' the various pleasures of love and also the agonies
of separation peculiar to the well-defined months of the Indian seasons — came
into special vogue after the tenth century A. D. There was, of course, noth-
ing new about these songs, except that they were in the spoken vernaculars
of the people, and were probably meant to be sung rather than recited.

Women in Gujarat sing these songs of love and separation, going ,
round in rhythmic dance on occasions of joy and festivities. These songs,
with their captivating airs, keeping time with the steps, begin with the
description of the year from either the month of Kartika — ^the opening
month of Vikrama calendar or Caitra, the opening month of Salivahana
Saka era, or even Asadha, the starting month of the Caturmisa of the
monsoon — as in Kalidasa’s “Meghaduta”. The “Neminalha Baramasl"
(early 14 th century) by Vinaycandra Suri, makes a beginning with the
month of Sravana. The agriculturist’s year begins from Ak?ayatrtiya in
Vaisakha and hence Samalbhatt’s “Kanabi na Masa” begins from that
month. The pleasures and pastimes all the year round of “ Madhava and
Kamakandala ” after their union are recounted from Phalguna, the month
of Spring. Thus there is a great variety on this point as regards the com-
position of the Baramasl songs.

The Baramasl songs are, for the most part, occupied with general
descriptions of feminine charms, the floral wealth of seasons and pangs of
separated lovers. Besides these seasonal songs called " Mahina ” (months)
sung by the Gujarati women, which even at the present day occupy a unique
place in the literature of folk-songs, there are other songs born of a stricter
literary tradition, meant to be read and recited by strolling minstrels or
Caranas at the court of princes. They too, deal with the life of love, but
begin it with the advent of monsoon, the month of A§adha : “ The month
of Asadha has thimdered and the peacock sings the Malhara (Raga

gfil d II ”

— Radtfoidli Rata, Part II.

334

CULTURAL HISTORY OF GUJARAT

characteristic of the rains); Radha remembers Madhava, the lord of the
Yadus and the Universe. Lightning cleaves through the clouds and
Radha cannot live without her Lord !”

“O my darling of the heart ! You have departed on your journey,
leaving me behind in this month of Kartika, breaking the bonds of our love !*’

*‘0 dear Soul ! our room is to me a veritable wilderness in the month
of Margiira, and how shall I — Your Servitor — ^get through the days all
alone ?”

And so run the songs with the same somewhat melancholy air, vibrat*
ing to the iiunost feeling of the singers, and echoing them with the slow
and regular rhythm of feminine steps, describing, half-recalling the intimate
.experiences of the love lived through various months and seasons of
the year.

Songs in praise of Mother Goddess— Arhba— are also not wanting in
Gujarati literature. However Radha and Kfsna are admittedly the principal
dramatis personae in this section of poetry. Over and above the most
popular pair of Radha and Kfsna, some poets have selected from Hindu
mythology Sita and Rama, and Parvati in the garb of a Bhil woman and
Siva : as the dramatis personae for composing the Baramasa or mahina, voicing
in an indirect way the emotions of Gujarati ladies when in separation.

Some Gujarati poets like Akho, Pritama, Dhiro and others contrived
to weave metaphysical and devotional thoughts round the monthly cycle
of the year, called Jfiana-Masa, with a view to reprimand the Soul to think
always of the flittering nature of time and concentrate on Parabrahma, the
Eternal.

It is curious to note — a fact not generally known — that if the Hindus
had the amours of Radha and Kripna as the principal theme of their songs,
the Jainas, at any rate in Gujarat, composed similar BaramasI songs
celebrating the love of their 22nd TIrthankara Neminatha and Rajimatl, and
the passion of Sthulibhadra for the courtesan Kosa. Neminatha is identified
with Kr§^ia in Jaina theology, of course, as the latter’s superior ; and the
poignant story of his interrupted marrfage with Rajimatl has been the
subject of several popular songs. The twelve years’ romance of Sthuli-
bhadra with KoiSa the courtesan, ultimately resulting in renunciation of the
world, is another common theme.

As observed above, a love poem, set to popular times (circa 1269) is a
poetic form known as “ Baramasa”. Its earliest specimen is “ Neminatha-
catu^padika” (G. O. S. No. 13, 1915) being a love-lament of Rajimatl

THE I4TQaA8Y FACTOB : I^NGUAGB. UTBBATVIIX. EOOCATION 335

or RSjuIa on her separation from Neminatha. She describes her feelings
as they vary with each month of the year, beginning from the mmth
of Srivai^a.

Rajnla weeps, as she sees the lake full of water in the month of
Bhadrapada : “O soiirce of all kindness ! why have you left me, lonely and
helpless ? ”

Her friend replies : “Do not weep. He is heartless and will never be
yours ; otherwise, having reared a tree, he would not set fire to it ; having
carried you to the top of a mountain, he would not throw you down.“

Rajula replies : “You speak truly. In these rains, the lakes burst
their boimds, the sea tosses about, and the mountains are worn away : but
the dark-hearted beloved does not relent ! ”

In a similar vein the poem refers successively to the other months
of the year.

A considerable mass of popular literature about the spring and its
full glory has survived by the name “ Phagu ” which principally describes
the dalliance of Spring. As already noticed, it is really curiovis to note that
even the austere Jaina Sadhu poets wrote excellent verses on the joy of love
and spring, of course in association with the revered names of NeminStha
and Rajimatl, or of the despised libertine Sthulibhadra and the courtesan
KoSa, who ultimately attained salvation by austere penance. “ Rangasagara
Phaga” by Somasundara Suri (14th century) is a charming poem which
describes the dalliance of Neminatha in the months of Spring— principally
in the month of Phalguna or the days of Hori (Holi) , and hence styled
“Phaga”, “Phaggu” or “Phagu.”

The “Phagu” composed by Natarsi (circa 1439) expressing the joys
of spring, is an excellent specimen of Phaga literature, having for its theme the
sports of Gopala Kr^na with cow-herd women. It begins like this : “ The
month of Phagu has begun. Spring has come ; the good people are full of
joy : Malaya breezes blow ; Kama has been wielding his weapons.

“ Gopis begin to dance : hand-drums are played upon ; bending their
beautiful bodies, they dance to the accompaniment of rhythmic movements.
Kr$na plays the flute.

“ They sing new songs of spring to tlie melody of the Sriraga ; they
keep time with their feet and Krisna plays the flute.

“ In their hands Gopis hold lotus-stems : they weave them over their
heads to every tune, they keep time. And Kr^^a plays the flute.

336

CUimiRAL HISTORY OF GlUABAT

'‘As the moon shines among the stars, so does Mukunda among
gopis; gods, men and Indra bow down to him in worship. And Kf^^a
plays the flute.”

The position of the Guru, who initiates the imenlightened to the
path of Devotion and Knowledge, is a position of respect, intermediate
between the persons of Divinity on one hand, and the worldly great on the
other. Some poets have, therefore, extolled the greatness of the Guru, in
the form of Baramasi songs. The Jaina Sadhu-poets have composed
more impassioned songs in praise of their Acaryas, who are therein
ardently requested to pass their four months of monsoon — ^the caturmasya
at a particular place. This theme forms a section by itself in the poetry
on “months” in Gujarati literature.

An Agriculturist’s Cycle of the year ; ‘Kanabi na Baramasa’ is unique
in its way. The arduous life of the great-hearted and devoted tillers of the
soil is graphically depicted by S^albhatta (circa 1679-1759 A. D.) in his
“Bhabharama’s Story” — one of the series of “ Batrisa Putali ni Varta ”,
Therein the old Bhabharama narrates to King Vikrama the busy and toil-
some routine of an agriculturist’s life all the year round, starting from the
month of VaiMkha — say from the Aksayatjrtiya the third day of the bright
half,— when an agriculturist makes a start for the new season.

The story wherein the “ Kanabi na Bara masa ” occur is characteri-
stically an original composition of Samalbhatta, meant to eulogise his patron
Rakhidas. It is very valuable from a sociologist’s point of view, also.

The “ Madhavanala-Kamakavdald Prahandha "" — a romance in 2500
duhaa, composed in Saihvat 1574 by the Kayastha poet Ganapati of Amod
(Broach Dist.), describes the ideal love of the hero — a highclass Brahmana
Madhavanala, for Kamakandala, the young but high-souled daughter of a
courtesan— an Apsara in previous birth, reminding one of Vasantasena
of the Mrcchakafika.

It is very common to And the description of pangs of love of a nayika
(heroine) on separation from her lover, given in poems and dramas : but the
romance of Ganapati is unique in describing the pangs of the lover —
Madhava also, at the separation from his beloved Kamakandala. Over and
above these two songs of separation, the poem indulges in a pleasant
description of the pleasures and pastimes of the united lovers also, starting
the description from Phalguna, the month of Spring.

41. GSekwad’s Oriental Series, Baroda, No. 91 (1941) edited by Prof. M. R.

Majmudar.

THE UTEBARY FACTOR : LANGUAGE. UntRATURE. SDUCA^GR 38 ?

If love— love of separation-forms the staple of BfiramasI songs,
s(HTOw consequent on the death of some beloved one also furnishes a tbepse
recalling the departed, in lines of true and adequately expressed 'feelings.
These songs called ‘dirges’ or ^marasids (from Arabic dirges, in

praise of the departed), as would be expected, are of great assistance in
giving us the very bloom of the bygone days of Gujarat history. What heart
can she have for adornment, whose lover is not there to see and appreciate
her enhanced beauty ? These simple songs are bits of historical evidence;
for, they give us a glimpse of the social life of those times and also throw a
light on the occupations of our forbears — ^trade and manufacture, and
foreign travel, even beyond the seas.

One of the main occupations of the Gujaratis is trade, as is obvious
enough when we consider the contour of the province, which includes
Kaccha, Sauras^ra and Gujarat, with its open coastline and ports which
date from the beginning of history. There were naturally good trade-routes,
connecting the ports with interior of the province and the continent, for pur-
poses of import and export. The songs of separation woven round the cycle
of the seasons or the months in Gujarati literature thus mainly draw their
inspiration from this occupation of the people.

These ‘ Banajharas ’—carriers of goods by land— by the way, have
always made a powerful appeal to the imagination of the people; and
Gujarati poets have immortalised them in poems which, while mainly
allegorical in theme and spirit, yet give us very vivid and most valuable
descriptions of the inland trade and trade-methods of the time."

These Banajharas have been a favourite theme with Gujarati poets,
who have utilised their course of journey with merchandise, in an allegory of
‘Soul’s Travel in the World’. Premanand is the author of ‘ Viveka VanajhSro ’,
who in Samvat 1737 has worked upon the idea, weaving it into a perfect alle-
gory." The paraphernalia of Viveka, when he starts on a journey, are vividly
described; the sort of merchandise also, which he carries with him for ex-
change with other goods in the return journey, gives us an inkling into their
life and customs also. ^Anot^er poet Jivaram of Dholka, has composed ‘Soul’s
Journey’ a Gujarati ‘Pilgrim’s Progress’, in Samvat

1800. JIvaraja makes a voyage in order to dispose of his merchandise. The
perils of the sea are described ; at last he reaches the harboiar. He
begins his task of disposing of his goods. He seeks and obtains a wife
Nivrtti and she bears him a son and a daughter. His career closes. ’The

42. See Bfhat Kdvya Dohana, Part I, pp. 698 to 703 (1925), smd Part II, pp, 414 to 418.

43. • Viveka Vapajharo ’ by PremSnand, published in Brhat Kavya Dohana, Part II.
as

338

CUimntAL HISTORY OF GUJARAT

poem is a clear allegory. Jivaraja is the soul, and his journeys and
anxieties are a search for bliss. The successful issue of the ventture is
absorption into Divinity.

We get a lively graphic picture of the times when the Bapajharas
were the sole carriers of merchandise, from the story of * Bkadr&hhaminV
(Samvat 1774) by Samalbhatt* How Lakho Banajharo encamped on the out-
skirts of TrambSvati with five lacs of Pothas (loaded bullocks), how the agents
of a local merchant struck a contract for the whole lot of merchandise by
paying his jewelled bracelet as earnest money, how he asked Lakho to unload
at Gandhar, few miles off Cambay (Trambavati), how the Vanajharo was
questioned, by other merchants on his way, to sell a part of his goods to them,
how the contract ratified by part-pa 3 mient in advance had made it inviolable
for him to entertain their offers, how Dubai!, the agent, then managed to
sell off the whole lot with a clear profit of a rupee and a quarter per each
Potha, if paid in hard cash on the day of contract, how his sole monopoly was
a cause of envy and disfavour with other retail merchants, is vividly
described by Samalbhatt. The Mahajana of the place who were helpless in
such a predicament, thought of appealing to the King’s officers against the
monopolised sale ; but then their knowledge that the State could not
interfere in these affairs, provided import dues were paid in full by the
merchant in question, prevented them from doing so.

Such is, in short, the glimpse of Inland trade that we get from this
poetical document, which we could do no more than refer to for want of
space. A similar incident is traceable in the fifth Kbanda of ‘ Silavati no Rasa'
composed by Nemavijaya (Praclna Kavya Mala No. XXXV) composed in
the same century as Samalbhatt’s ‘ Bhadraibhamini It is not uncommon
to find similar references even in folk-songs and marriage-ditties.*'

The Gujaratis being enterprising and fond of trade, there is naturally
quite a fair amount of literature that deals with their seafaring life and
maritime adventures. Folk-songs and metrical romances by Jaina Yatis and
non-Jaina writers, like Samaibhatt, were evidently very popular with the
masses. Travel was regarded in Gujarat a?, a great opportunity for
sharpening homely wits, and an adventurer was regarded as something of a
hero. Some of the stories above referred t6, may be no better than fables,
but they have a certain value, nevertheless, for they give us an idea of the
mental make-up and the prime occupation of the Gujaratis of these times.*'

44. Vide Radhiali Rata, Part III, Page 103.

45. See the stories of 'Rom Manjari', 'PremaldlacchP, ‘Vidya Vildsini' etc.

Also Cf. Harilild by Bhima ( Saihvat 1541 ) : —

THE UTSRABV FACTOH : LANGUAGE. UTBSATUBE. EDUCATION 33d

The middle ages were bare of the poetry of patriotism and chivalry,
the atmosphere being somewhat unfavourable. Except, therefore, for- the
bardic literature known as ‘Rasas’, and the few heroic couplets inserted
in Hemacandra’s Prakft grammar by way of illustrations*, Gujarat had
to rest content with tales (told in a conventional and rather unconvincing
manner) from the Mahabharata or the Ramayapa, rendered into Gujarati
by writers who had hardly known anything of actual warfare. Only a few
poems, like* Ranamallacckanda ’ * by Sridhara and ‘Kdnhadde Prahandha'
by Padmanabha of the early 16th century, deal with the ‘heroic’ as such.
As for Gujarati eulogies on living kings and courtiers, there are none
whatever. The existing conditions made that kind of poetry altogether
impossible. Court-poets during the Hindu period did write panegyrics, but
those are all in Sanskrt. *

Thus we have seen that Gujarati poetry springs from native inspiration
allied to a Sanskii; tradition of Art. Poets, like other men, are apt to exag-
gerate their own importance in the scheme of things, but the Gujarati poets
were under no such delusion. Their only mission was to instruct, while
amusing the people. To Samalbhatt poetry is a creature of fancy, meant
to entertain the minds of men :

^ ^ I »

Akho, on the other hand, believed that poetry is a vehicle of thought,
and nothing more; and that it is the matter, and not the manner,
that counts : “ tiofjsi || ” All languages were good to him, so long

“srpg qiNvi Pit i arot ii

f5t5j I «wi, ^ iiin^ pr ii

i tcfoi jitopk 3crf<fp ii ”

The words ship— siR; sail — ^55; anchor~*ri»l^; mast— ^<1; helmsman —
clearly belong to the maritime life of the Gujarati people.

46. See, the Presidentill addf ess of the late D. B. Prof. K. H. Dhruva at the 2nd
Gujarati Sahitya Pari$ad, Report (1909) pp. 8, 9.

Cf. also S'^s such as : —

“ 'OTtrt ^ ^ tn>ft 9jfBi I

5i ^ quit I IJ"

47. Edited by the late Prof. K. H. Dhruva in "PrScina Gurjara Kavya" published
by the Gujarat Vernacular Society (1926).

48. For instance, “ Kumarapalacarita ”, “Prabandha Cintamapi”, " Vasanta
Vilasa ”, “Sukrta Sathkirtana ” "Kirti Kaumudi”, “KyparasakoSa”, etc.

340

CDLTOBAL HtSTOBY OV QVJAUM;

as they could be understood by every one* Where language ends, sub*
stance begins. The other poets are not clear on this point.

The element of moralising is all the more apparent in the poets of
the Swaminarayapa group. Some are mouthpieces of the commercial
middle class. Two factors predominate in the quality of their work, viz.,
realism and an emphasis on the moral aspect. Realism involved an observa-
tion of concrete facts; the moral reflections show utilitarian tendency. They
did not stress to a great extent any rationalistic tendency.

The element of Didacticism which accompanied the writings of Samal
and his predecessors is extremely important, from one point of view. For it
clearly indicates their love towards an interpretation of life rather than
merely giving a beautiful reflection of it. Thus all Loka-Vartas are full of
grave reflections and weighty morals and are indeed collections of essays
on Education, on Friendship, on Religion, on Morals and Philosophy and on
the favourite occupations and tendencies in the masses of Gujarat.

If Philosophy be taken to mean a systematic criticism of Life-values
with a view to guide life, Premanand and Akho may be regarded as the
Gujarati Philosophers par excellence. They present all those characteristics
which we have come across so far, in other fields of thought; and it may be
conceded to us that a systematic criticism does not necessarily involve a
systematic expression. “Accepting all life, rejecting nothing, uniting the
real and the poetic, appealing to the most various men, to a rude workman
as to a wit”, Premananda’s Akhyanas are a great river of life and beauty.

The crusade these lesser poets carried on, tended not towards any
refinement of language or thought, but towards the purification of manners
and human relations. They endeavoured to bring about a compromise
between the aristocratic and Puritan spirit; and this task assumed the form
of moralising a refinement and refining morality. In analysing the moral
shades and humours of human endeavour, they became psychologists, in
a sense. Their middle class moralising is to be noticed in the songs and
Bhajans of Dhiro and Bhojo. With some, the tifeatment of the morals did
not achieve gaity and lightness, but remained ponderous. This taste for
moral dissertation is seen in allegorical poems of these times.

49. I II

% #8irt ^ «r5 1 jnw fwi % wrf u

W ^ •% I •rai api II

«n«PRl wai fiRtiK I «rar sn^i to ii ”

TBS UXISABT VACTOB : LAITOUAGS. UIliRATUBI, SDBCATION 341

To take a r^ume of the expanse of Gujar&t! literature, we have to
refer to the following main periods of rather unequal duration

(1) The Period of Apabhrarhsa Literature (1100>1500 Sammt)
witnessed the glorious times of the Solahki rule in Gujarit, and also
the end of self-governing Gujarat at the hands of the Mtissalmins.
Throughout in language and culture Gujarat was one with MarwSd, Malwft
and Rajaputana; and Patan (N. Gujarat) had become the most powerful city
in the whole area, attaining not only power and heroism but learning, art
and culture.

The literature of this time — as seen through the remnants of folk-
poetry preserved as illustrations in the Siddha Haima grammar of Hema-
candra Suri, the popular love-poem Munja Rasa about King Munja, and
Prahandha-dntdmani (Samvatl331), the semi-historical events of great men
of the times — ^was mythological, religious, didactic and heroic.

Hemacandra Suri was the first Gujarati author who made a conscious
effort to study and preserve the spoken literature of his times in his Pr&k]:t
grammar in 1102 A.D., by way of illustrations in the sections dealing with
Apabhrarhsa. Hemacandra Suri — who was rightly honoured as the first
notable Gujarati scholar of his times, in the Haima Sdrasvata Satra cele-
brated in 1938 at Patan, the scene of his varied activities — was poet, saint,
politician and one of the most versatile of Indian scholars.

Representative specimens of Gujarati poetry and prose of this period
are collected in the Prdcina Gurjara Kdvya Sahgraha (No. XIII, 1920)
by the late scholar C. D. Dalai, and the Prdcina Gadya Sandarhha edited
by Muni Jinavijayaji. The Apabhrarhsa and Old Gujarati literature of this
period provide ample evidence to show that life in Gujarat was not only
heroic, but also joyous and free. It had a thrill of a heroic age, and its out-
look on literature was neither morbid, nor other-worldly.

The earliest Gujarati of this period includes a literature of prose-
romances also, the ^mrykable among them being Prihvicandra earita
(Sarhvat 1488) by Mapikya candra Shri, on the style of Kddamborl, where
the sentences are constructed with a sure eye to rhetoric and balance, and
at places attain poetic cadence. The stories of kings did not appeal to the
commercial classes of Gujarat ; hence popular imagination centred round the
hero of commerce (interwoven with Nagarseth’s or his daughter's love-
qff airs) returning from foreign lands in vessels laden with riches. Gujar&tl
literature has a parallel in this section among the Bengali metrical romances
of this period.

342

CULTUHAL HISTOSV OF GUJABAT

(ti) The Age of Pauranic Revival : Sarhvat 1500*1700 : Tliis period
met with the calamity of Muslim rule, when the alien invaders laid
waste the country and destroyed the strength, the learning and the
glory of Gujarat. Gujarat had become a separate kingdom, wd Patap
was no longer a literary centre for Gujarat as well as BajaputSnS. The
language spoken in Gujarat began to develop new features, assuming its
modern shape about 1700 Samvat, i.e. the third period.

This age is remarkable on account of two prahandha works which
help to link up the foregone period with the succeeding one. These works,
which have historical incidents connected with Gujarat as their theme, strike
a new note in the usual devotional trend of Gujarati poetry. The KSnha^de
prahandha (1512 Samvat) by Padmanabha, a Visalnagara Nagar, is an
epic of great age that was fast fading into oblivion. It provides a brilliant
picture of the epic heroism displayed by the people of Gujarat, when they
grimly contested every inch of ground with the invader during the 14th
century. The Vvmalaprahandha (1561 Samvat) by Muni Lavanyasamaya
narrates the glories of that illustrious minister Vimalasa of Bhimadeva I,
who was a great patron of arts and letters.

Two poets — ^Narsimha Mehta ( Samvat 1470-1525 ) and Miraba!
(Sarhvat 1558-1625) of inter-provincial fame in India, and figuring in the
Hindi Bhaktamala and the Marathi Bhaktivijaya as poet-saints — sang the
glories of Srikrsna and his love with the Gopis, in sweet ditties full of
tenderness.

Bhalana hailing from Patan is the reputed author of a verse-rendering
of Band’s Kadamharl — perhaps the only one of its type in the provincial lan-
guages of India — ^which brings about all the beauties of the original, intended
though it was to amuse the less cultured of the masses. His adaptation
of the Bhagavata Dasama Skandha, singing the glories of child-Kr^na in
touching and lovely songs, is very popular; and a beautifully illustrated Ms.
of this poem in the folk-style that has come down to us, corroborates it.

Nakara, a Vaisya hailing from Baroda, composed poems in the wake
of pauranic revival, and presented them to Br&hmidk for reading them
out to the religiously-minded audience.

A collection of typical poems — secular, religious and allegorical, edited
ixnder the title /Gujarat! Poems of the 15th century A. D. ', is instructive
reading. .‘Vasanta-Vildsa’ describing the dalliance of spring in dUhi metre
opens a new avenue of secular poetry before us. A picture-roll of this poem
depicting the subject-matter in 89 miniatures shows how the artist and the
calligrapher united to present the poem in an engaging manner.

THB UTERARY FACTOR : tANOUAQE, UTERATmOi, m»UCAT10N

343

The fascinating trend of popular fiction or metrical romances is heat
illustrated by several works of absorbing interest, even much more valuable
from the point of sociology and folklore. One of such stories, linked up to
the Vikrama-cycle of stories is the Mddhaodnala-Kdmakandald'prabandha
(Saihvat 1584) by Gapapati, a Kayasthafrom Amod (Broach district).

Still the greater bulk of literature of this period, spread over several
bhandars, has, however, not yet been caught by the printer’s art. The
succeeding period shows an advance over this age, in matters of technique
and craftsmanship.

(tii) The Glorious Period of Mediaeval Gujardtl Literature, 1700-1820
Sarhvat : This period was the outcome of pauranika revival when each
province in India began to work out its cultural salvation, language began
to develop, poets received fresh inspiration, pauravkilcas a new vocation and
philosophies a new orientation. It brought to the ordinary people in the
place of cumbrous ritual and abstruse doctrine, hhakti, a worship full of joy
and song, dance and prayer; and thus its literature, assumed distinctive char-
acter. The political atmosphere of Gujarat was also quiet, under the rule of
Mughal emperors, and favoured the growth of literary activities.

Premananda, the outstanding figure of this period, almost a contem-
porary of Vamana Papdit in Marathi literature, was born in Baroda, which
he called * Viraksetra’, and flourished at Surat and Nandurbar, at the
latter place being patronised by Desai Sankardas, who governed West
Khandesa. His poems— Akhy anas, composed in desi tunes, on mythological
themes and stories alive with realistic art, are accredited classics in Gujarati.
His portraiture of Narasimha Mehta, through five poems, introducing as
many crucial incidents in the saint-poet’s life to the reader, is simply
charming. He has portrayed Gujarati men and women of his own times,
in his mythological Akhyanas, the longer narrative poems of the Prakft style.
He is reputed to have founded a school of his own. Ratnesvar, a learned
Sanskrt Papdit, and a Srimali Brahmin of Dabhoi and author of several
works, was a disciple of Premananda.

In his earlier cdPtemboray Akho (who composed Akhe Gild in 1705
Sam vat), a goldsmith by caste, was centred the ancient current of meta-
physical thought, whose epigrammatic and pointed style is remarkable and
goes home to the reader’s heart.

Vallabhabhatta, the third leading name during the period, excelled in
the field of Sakta-lore of the right-hand. He was a devout worshipper of Sti
Bahucaraji, in Mehsapa district, whom he has glorified and prayed in several
songs, technically called ‘ Garaho ’. The indigenous folk-dance of Gujarat

344

ctnmmAL eostosy of ovjabat

as manifest in the cowherd-dance (»lled B&aa, and in the UpSsana-lore
connected with the Sakti-worship called the ‘Garaho\ is the greatest
cultural contribution of Gujarat to the whole of India; and Vallabhabha^ta
was the pioneer of dance-songs in praise of the Goddess, sung while
moving in a circle, keeping time with the strokes of hands and feet.

The literary current of popular fiction was availed of by Samalbhatta,
who had an intimate knowledge of the rural social life of his times ; and a
clever story-teller as he was, he borrowed, recast, and interwove several stray
threads of folk-tales, in his new creations. Next in popularity to Premananda
among the masses and the village folk, ranks Samalbhatta even to-day.

Samayasundar and Yasovijayji are the two outstanding Jaina ascetic-
poets who catered to the taste of the Jaina laity.

Two minor poets of this period who wrote in the old Barode State
territories were Surabhatfa who wrote his Kali-mahimS (Samvat 1704) and
Svargarohana from Kalol, in Mehsana district, and Mukunda, a Gugali
Brahmin from Dwarka who wrote the biographies of Kabir, Goraksa and
other saints in Samvat 1708. Owing to the powerful and prolific creations of
authors in various fields of literature, this period is said to be the Augustan
period in mediaeval Gujarati literature.

(iu) Period of Political Unrest: Samvat 1820 to 1908 (1852 A. D.):
At the break-up of the Mughal empire, the political situation in Gujarat was
far from satisfactory, as neither person nor property was safe. Accordingly,
no good literature could fiourish during this period of mental unrest, except-
ing the few stray songs and bhajans by the poets, whose only solace in the
changed political outlook was to think of the next world, and forget the
grim realities of this world. Hence the rise of a batch of lesser poets
called ‘ bhaktas ’.

Dhiro, hailing from Sokhada in Savli taluka (Baroda district), Nar-
bherama from Pij in Petlad taluka, Pritamdas from Sandhesar in Carotar,
NIranta and his disciple Bapusaheb Gaikwad from Dethan in Baroda
taluka, Giridhar, a Vaisya from Baroda proper, more known by his
rendering of Ramayana in verse, Bhojo from Xmrefi, an adept in using
trenchant sarcasm in poetry, and the two kagar women-poets Puribai and
Gaurlbai from Vadnagar and Dungarpur, writing songs of domestic love, and
the group of singers of the Swiminarayapa sect of Kr^na-worship led by
Brahmananda and Premananda — these were some of the stars of the lower
magnitude in the firmament of Gujarati literature of this period.

However, there was one high soul, who was above his times. Dayarim,
a devout Vaispava singer of sweet tenderness and melody, whose memory

TBS LmOAST FACOOK : tANOCAOC, taxatMCOSK. BStrCATIGm

)ms been associated with Cfindod and Pabhoi, is the redeetning feature
of this otherwise decadent age. His lyrics, popularly known as * garabit are
shortened forms of garahas, which depict one situation or one sentiment
picked up from the life of child-Kf^na.

With the passing away of DayarSm in 1908 Sarhviat or 1852 A, D., a
new era dawned upon the various provinces in India, when the Samvat year
came to be replaced by the Christian year ; and we come to the so-called
‘ Modem period ’ of British contact.

(v) The Age of Pioneers of New Movements : 1852 A.D. to 1886 A.D.:
During this dawn of the Modern period, contact with the West created new
forces in all spheres of life. It saw the high-water mark of fascination for all
things Western, and of contempt for many things Indian. It marks the begin-
ning of social, intellectual and religious upheaval in the life of Gujaratis.

Gujarat thus stood at a cross-road, as it were, as a foreign culture
was brought to bear upon the indigenous modes of life and thought. The
founding of the Universities in 1857, the cry for reforms in social, economic
and religious matters, and starting of several Societies and Journals for the
furtherance of corporate life on Western lines, changed the outlook on litera-
ture, both as regards the form as also the subject-matter.

And it gave birth to renaissance in literature, to a new language, and
a literary technique and tradition based on Romanticism, which dominated
English literature in the first half of the 19th century. The age of classic form,
from 1886 to 1920 A.D. came into being tmder the influence of University edu-
cation and Sanskrt revival. From 1920 A. D. onwards is running the current
age of political consciousness and realism in literature. The literary currents
in the Modern period are, however, beyond the scope of this study.

III. Education

As regulated conditions of marriage and family life serve to
perpetuate the physical body of the race, so education serves to maintain and
continue the tradition^ of t|;^e race from generation to generation. Education,
in this sense, does not confine itself to mere book or school education.
Everything that stimulates thought and action, is included as a factor in the
education of man. It was the recognition of this fact which prompted com-
munities to undertake the education of its inmates in order to socialize the
individual to their modes of life and custom. It is quite recently in the
history of humanity that the State recognised its duty to educate its
children, and thus secure highest efficiency possible, all the constituents
of the State thus making a great force affecting national life and character.

346

CULTtTRAL HISTORY OF GUJARAT

When the society reached a certain stage of civilization in its evolu-
tion» it aggressively imposed its institution on the individual. It had gone
so far as to set up special agencies to effect such a training, in order to insure
the transformation of every child, as far as possible, into a being able and
willing to conform to the social pattern of action and thought. Not only so,
but in many of its other institutional organizations, society expended a great
deal of energy in the aggressive promotion of social practices. We use the
general term ^‘Education’* to describe these facts.

State and government are in this sense, in large measure, a device for
educating citizens; social communities, caste-assemblies as well as religious
bodies, Sahghas, and sects or Jamats arc educational agencies. Wherever
individuals are introduced to social institutions and encouraged in cultivating
social traits, education is going on. The early system of primitive education
dealt with those matters, which were of most vital concern to the tribe, and
the lessons were couched in terms of governmental and religious sanctions.

Education is thus an adjustment whereby the rising generation
becomes useful to the society in which they are to pass their lives. The
rcstilt of education consists in training a boy or girl to take his place in the
tribe or society, as an efficient member of it. That is what education
still does, if it is to promote social welfare. The older must soon die, and
the young must take their places and carry on. To do that they must learn
what the older have succeeded in living by. All studies started by
being ‘practical’, and by being recognised as such. The Hindu boy of the
twice-born classes knew why he was to study Sanskrt. That language
was in constant use in the temple and with the Pandits ; most books of the
time were written in it, to know it was a mark of culture 'which secured
very practical advantages to the possessor. It opened careers. IL is not
possible, nowadays, thus to see, from the beginning of a study, its practical
utility to the one who masters it. A good deal of modern education has to
be taken on faith, or simply because authority commands it; and the result is
that there is more resistance on the part of the learners and more need
of compulsion than there was in the primitive ^tage. Penalties for
non-performance have to be invented to^ take the place of those which
nature once imposed; for, there is no immediate and convincing test any
longer at hand. The natural, and therefore the best, way to learn is through
imitation.

In the middle ages in Gujarat, a boy was expected to carry on the
trade of his father. Often he was apprenticed to some craftsman, with the
idea of enabling him to set up for himself, and gradually accumulate enough
knowledge later on; but there was no ‘course* to be taken up by aspirants to

TSE LtTERARY FACTOR : LANQOAQX. tlTBRATORS. EDDCATtON

347

offices. Girls learned the lessons of house-keeping in the home, and such
education as there was, was wholly practical. The priestly class monopolis-
ed general education, starting with reading and writing. The others were
limited to reading, writing and arithmetic as taught in country schools by
the village school-master, or in Pathsalas, Maktabs and Madresas. This
was not much, but it was valuable so far as it went. It helped to remove
illiteracy, and to keep alive the torch of knowledge. It lessened social and
communal differences by giving a common culture and a common tradition
to the rising generation.

Education must be universal if it is to be effective, and it must be a
State concern if it is to be universal. In olden days, however, it was left in
the hands of the Brahmin group, whose interest was bound to be limited. In
the mediaeval period, Jaina Upasrayas, Posadhasalas and Brahmin Asramas,
like the Bauddha Mathas and Viharas concerned themselves mainly with the
education of the priesthood. The laity was left to look after itself. If, how-
ever, these temple-schools ever did concern themselves with the laity, it
was only to the extent of teaching them the formal Hindu faith and simple
reading, so that they might master for themselves the Puranas, the stotras
and the rules of morality. And in this, we must admit, they were justified;
for, their primary aim was to form character and to turn out responsible and
disciplined protagonists of the religion they • professed and taught. Thus
there was a sharp distinction drawn between the education of a strict
religious Brahmin and that of an ordinary man.

The main object of education, then, was the culture of the soul. The
greatest care was taken to discover the tendencies and attitude, ‘arfert’, of a
pupil for particular branches of study. In the earliesst time, education was a
purely family affair, each father initiating his son in the Veda and the profess-
ions of his caste; but in course of time, economic pressure and the diversity
of pursuits made it necessary for people to send their children to the teacher s
house for a more or less permanent stay during their student-years. This
system, again, gave way to the primitive prototype of the present one, under
which a teacher maintained by a community, teaches children for a definite
time each day. In th?se days, education was a free gift to all who desired it.
The prince and the pauper were equal in their hours of study. And the
personal relationship between the students and the teacher, and the students
and their fellow-students, was, in most cases, a very wholesome thing, with
a very far-reaching influence on the future lives of all concerned.

These schools were supported by donations from rich men and
princes In several, some of the pupUs, especially Brahmins, who were

not supposed to give any parting-gift to their teachers when leaving, went

348

caiimuki , history of otjarat

out in the city or village to beg, like the mendicant pupils of the middle
ages in Europe. Whatever they obtained was handed over to the teacher,
who looked after their board, lodging and other necessities.

There were monitors." The more advanced student had to look after
the new and the backward ones, and to help them in their work." This
system still obtains in many places.

From the very early times, Indian schools have been closely associated
with the religions that dominated the people — ^Hindu, Buddhist or Muslim.
Most of them were located in the villages. In addition, certain castes apd
classes, such as the warriors and artisans, had separate training-grounds
where the students were kept as apprentices and initiated into the tech-
nicalities of their father’s avocations.

Besides such religious and vocational schools, there were great many
rudimentary, secular, primary schools, patronised mostly by traders, and to
a far lesser degree, by some of the agriculturist classes. These were
supported by the villagers themselves and were quite free from State-inter-
ference. The education imparted in these schools was necessarily strictly
practical, and had no concern with any of the learned professions, or
religion, or law, these subjects being the monopoly of a few castes; and
memorization was the chief method of instruction.

There were, again, the Buddhistic Viharas, which were not only
centres of monasticism but also of education and learning. They had their
libraries containing their scriptures (as is implied by a Grant for the purchase
of books to a Valabhi Vihara). The Buddhist children were freely taught
in these monasteries, which received numerous endowments both public and
private. The same was the case with the Jaina Viharas. As a matter of
fact, the Jaina priests were more active in the field of literature than in that
of religion. The education of Hindu boys was entrusted to Hindu Pandits.
Many of our Grants record the gifts of whole villages to Brahmins famous
for their learning, in return for their doughty efforts in the cause of
knowledge. One Surat-plate records how worthily a Brahmin at Bhadra-
palli (Bar^oU of to-day) spent the revenues c¥>nferced upon him by his
sovereign.

The first schools of mediaeval Gujarat were tkose which gave instruc-
tion in law, theology and literature— subjects necessary for professional

50. Sudimi. a co-student of Sri K|*i$na’s in the Asrama of Sandipani at Ujjayini
worked as a monitor also. Cf. Premananda’s Suddmaeartta

air ’Rfv ffnsT i ”

51. Bell's system was the outcome of his experience in India.

1SB UTSaABY FACTOB; LAMOVAQI, UmMIVBk. WOlOCAtUXS 349

Brahmuas. They were, therefore, only for the upper classes; and the
artisans and peasant classes were excluded. When later on, village schools
for the common people came to be organised by the village communities
themselves, they also taught the academic subjects, religion, reading and
arithmetic. Most of the other things were learnt at home. Under the
Solahki rule, most cities of Gujarat maintained schools for primary, as well
as higher education, at the instance of enlightened Brahmin and Jaina
Ministers. Siddharaja, knowing that school-boys were much confused by
the extensive but incomplete grammars already in vogue, requested
Hemacandra Suri, a Jaina Yati, to write a new and comprehensive grammar
of the local vernaculars, and Sabdanuiasana ” or. “Haima Vyakarapa”
was the result." Siddharaja spent much time and money in getting copies
made of this, and then presented them to the libraries of the various
countries, so that this standard grammar of the Prakrts might come into
common use for purposes of study.®

In the primary schools of the middle ages in Gujarat the first sentence
taught to the children in writing the Varnamala, called " was the

Jaina salutation. A relic of this is preserved in Nakar’s 'Candrahdsdkkyana'
(16th century A. D.).*” The influence of Jainism on primary education is
still felt in Andhra, Tamilnada, Karnataka and Mahara?tra." The Telugu
people use the formula * silB. ^^5 f^Riq | 1 ’ where the first part has

been added by gaivas to obliterate the influence of the Jainas. In Kalinga-
Ooriya the formula, is ‘ I ’ which is clearly Jaina. In Maharaip^ra
‘ im: ’ is added to ‘ JR: to.1 ’

Brahmanical centres of education suffered severely during the raids
of Mahmud of Ghazni, and the learned Brahmins who lived and taught there,
were often killed or put to flight. Emperor Akbar, however, encouraged Hindu

52. - 1 ti

53. For details see ‘JgRRiaiRH by Papdit Bechardfis in the Pur&tattva

Quatterly, Vol. IV, Saihvat 1982.

54. Corrupted into the Gujarati word ‘JTlfeir', ' is derived from Sanskrt

*n^; Prk. plus aiRiSJT, i. e., counting up to the alphabets.

55. ‘ *pr, % g brsi. ’

' — f. *BI. 5t., um e, g. ^09.

Also see, the complete ^ as supposed to be taught in the school, and couplets
39 to 44, on page 508 (Ibid.).

56. C. V. Vaidya ; History of Mediaeval Hindu iTtdia, Vol, HI, p, 407.

350

CULTUBAL HISTORY 07 GUJARAT

learning and patronized Hindu scholars ; and his great-grandson Dari also
took a keen interest in the religious and philosophical works of the IHndus.
But these were exceptions. With the withdrawal of royal patronage and the
forfeiture of temple lands, schools, monasteries and priests were left without
income, and Sanskyt and Hindu learning suffered. On the other hand, this
epoch was remarkable for the progress of vernacular literature in different
parts of India.

Mosques came into being, and in the towns specially, were centres
of instruction and literary activity. Muslim educational institutions are
called Maktabs or Madresahs. The 'Maktab’ was a primary school
attached to a mosque, in which boys were taught those portions of the Kuran
which a Muslim must know by heart, in order to perform his devotions and
other religious functions. Sometimes reading, writing and simple arithmetic
were also included in the curriculum. The ‘Madresah’ was a school or
college of higher learning. The Madresahs and the Maktabs were, of course,
meant for Muslims alone, but as Persian became the court-language,
Hindus, too, began to find it necessary to learn it, and, sometimes, even
Arabic. And thus a linguistic rapprochement was brought about between
the two peoples which still persists in Upper India, and has proved greatly
to the benefit of both.

Akbar, although generally supposed to have been illiterate, was
yet deeply interested in the spread of learning and education. He built up
a great library, and had a book read to him almost every day. His catholicity
is proved by the fact that he had a great number of Sanskrt and other books
translated into Persian, and that he encouraged painting, music, calligraphy
and other fine arts. What is more to the point, he made the Madresahs
accessible to the Hindus as well. That is how Urdu developed. Until now
it has become the lingua franca of a great part of Northern India.

Aurangzcb, too, was a lover of learning. In all the cities and towns
of his extensive empire, pensions and allowances and lands were given to
learned men and professors, and stipends were fixed for scholars. He saw
to it that all Muslim students in Gujarat were ^iven pecuniary help. “He
also took steps to have the Borahs of Gujarat educate<3, and for this purpose
teachers were appointed and monthly examinations were to be held, the
results of which were to be reported to the Emperor.”

The effect of the Muslim invasions upon the national educational
system was two-fold. In the first place, they brought about a widespread
disorganisation of the village schools, secondly they lessened the popularity

57. Dr. Keay’s Ancient Indian Education, page 131.

TR2 UTERA8Y FACTOR tANGUAGE, UTIRATVRE. EDUCATION S51

of those ancient institutions of learning in which Sansk|rt and the Veim-
culars were taught, so that only the lower classes, who aspired to nothing
higher than a bare knowledge of letters, resorted to them. All others studied
Persian in Maktabs and Madresahs."

Now let us look at a typical village school in Gujarat. The school
bosrs all squatted on the floor, each on his square mat, rather rugged, under
a large straw-bed in the middle of the court-yard. Each boy carried his
earthen inkpot, either in his hand or suspended from strings, and his mat in
a long roll under his arm, with the palm-leaves, on which he practised his
alphabet sticking out at one end. The beginners wrote with bamboo-pens
on wooden slates; the more advanced students were allowed to use paper.
It was a noisy business, because each boy chanted nasally whatever he
was writing, whether it was a syllable or a sura, so that the master, who
was generally dozing, might be sure of the industry of his pupils, and the
boy himself feel an added enthusiasm in his task. It was also an inky
business, for the boys were bent upon proving their earnestness. But there
was another reason for it too. No sooner had a boy made a blot in writing
than he wiped out the ink with his fingers and rubbed the finger on his
head, which was a sort of universal blotting pad and pen-wiper; or he licked
the ink away with his tongue, and then wiped his tongue on his dhoti. So
from head to foot he was a figure of ink.

The ' Vinaya Sala \ or school," was a friendly gathering. The teacher
was paid on a contractual basis, a fixed sum for a particular portion of the
and a fresh sum for starting a fresh lesson, Nakara (sixteenth

an

rbtob ^ B«ri w sn

^ pwrr f <r>i tirg,

aaswf twi 5is6i) sipw: >iat, BttrqtRRi

— Vide ^Nandasaiikar Jivana-Citra' by Vmayak Mehta, p. 49.
59. (\) snfB, Bif4 '

‘3Tri[’ Biff siO *iiw Bifii II’ — i. n, vt.

(?) ‘sfo 3i 3?t nrerr Jim I

spajre; aimaft Si Bist ‘ ?. Bw-

(?) m^l ^ f®i gscmi ISnmBisr ‘gitmmft^ ’.

,60. ‘ fimwm ’ or ‘ Jwuim’ oid Guj. fii^im.

Prof. N. B. Divetia derives the word from ^^imi, a writing school; but the
school taught many other things besides.

352

CULTDRAL HISTOBY OF OWABAT

century A. D.) describes how boys used to write on wood^ planks sprinkled
with fine dust." The teachers, evidently believed in the rod.“

As for the girls, the home was their school, the mother their teacher
and mystic movements their initiation into spiritual life. Moral and religious
principles they imbibed from the hymns, the religious songs and Paurapic
verses sung by their mothers. They learnt bargaining and purchasing at home
in the course of daily transactions with the hawker. They picked up minor
arithmetical calculations in checking home>accounts. They learnt social
etiquette by attending social gatherings and marriage-festivals, etc. The
joint-family system taught them obedience to elders, consideration for their
equals, and service of all, from the highest to the lowest. Daily doles of rice
and coins to the poor and the needy, taught them to be charitable, and the
virtues of hospitability and graciousness were developed in honouring guests
invited and uninvited.

The absence of public schools for all was, however, no great hardship;
because Puranis and Kathakaras were always there to sow the seeds of
general culture. Literacy among the masses, can be ascertained from the
fact that one Haridas, a barber by caste and a resident of Cambay, wrote the
‘ Dhruvakhyana ’ in Sarhvat 1637,® while the scribe of this Mss. was a Gola
(paddy-pounder) by caste !

“The early Maratha rulers, as they regarded the inhabitants of
Gujarat merely as payers of tribute, and had but little, if any, conception
of the State in any political sense, took no thought of schools or of educa-
tion.” “ There were private elementary schools Pl^toa) which taught

reading, writing and arithmetic in a vague manner. It must, however,
be said to the credit of the Maratha States that it was their custom then, as,

61 ‘ ^ife*rr i > wr i

% HCPT 1 Fir ii ’

—1. w. m. <, ?. *%[fra 9n^’.

62. (t) ^ 3*ir *151*1 *1^!

*1^ w, fwrag w imid. ”

— qRKfiiT srrCTR’.

(?) ^-^l ‘wan, ftqr 3n% w *pi.’

63. A Mss. copy of this poem is preserved in the Oriental Institute Collections,
Barodi.

Cf. iS# lal adw? ? i

iiifc ffisra ^ ^ TWi fe II "

64. Barofjid Gazetteer, Vol. II, p. 308.

ras unSABY YACTOS : LAMGTMBK U3SBATDU. XDOCATKUI

358

indeed, it still is to a certain extent, to encourage learning such as Vedas,
distras, PurS^as, Astrology and Medical sdexuse. A stranger visiting the
State in search of an employment as a Vaidya or Hakim was examined
as for his qualifications by a committee of presumed authorities in Indian
systems of medicines; and, having satisfied their tests, he was recommended
to the Raji, either for monetary reward or employment. If employed he
became a hereditary servant of the State.

Ihe people and their Indian rulers implicitly believed in the Vaidyas
who studied the Ayurveda or the science or practice of medicine. Each
court had a number of such Indian practitioners. Many Gujarati S&stris
used to receive State-pensions from the Peshwas at Poona. Their
descendants who failed to keep up the tradition of learning, were fotmd to
care more for their “ Var^asana” rather than for learning.”

One Bhatta Devasankar Purohita, son of Nanibh§!, a Gujaritl
Brahmin, native of Ranemagar (Surat district) and living at Olp&d

I ) has composed one book on Poetics — AlaHk&ra
Manju^a — during the regime of the Peshwa Madhavarao I, and his uncle
Raghunathrao (1761 to 1768 A. D.) wherein he has eulogised his patrons.
He has given a curious etymology of the word ‘Peshwfi* which may be
noted with interest.”

During the Hindu, Muslim and Maratha periods, the spread of literacy
was not regarded as a duty of the State, any more than in Eiurope, until the
middle of the last century. Village education, therefore, was left entirely to
private enterprise. These primary schools were democratic, and more
secular than spiritual in their instruction and general character, which is
surprising, considering what an all-important part religion played in the
lives of the people, and that the earliest teachers were the Brahmin Pa^dyas;
but, of course, the teaching of the Sastras was forbidden to all but the
priestly Moreover, Buddhism and Jainism, by their immense influ-

ence on Hinduism, led to a certain disintegration of the position of the
Brahmin priest, which necessarily reacted on the character of the schools
in which he taught.

Krsoaram (Saifavat 1840) ‘ Kalikala no Garabo '

^ «I^ WW I

d) qvi ar 1

w, 4:^ "IPl II ”

66. “ W I «iaWR II

aiRr i ii ”

—Vide, Bhandarkar’s 9th Report of Search of MSS. (1897), p. Ixiv.

354

CVhTOML HUTOaV Or OtrjtABAt

The people of Gujarat have always changed witiii circ um stances
according to the times, and have assimilated ideas and institutions and
practices which they thought to be the best, absolutely or for the time
being. Owing to the contact of the Mahomedans the Hindus changed
customs and manners to a certain extent, and were influenced in their
ideals. The seclusion of women and the practice of child-marriage are
directly traceable to this Mahomedan influx.

The rise of new sects of religion is also due to the new ideals received
from Mahomedanism. The physical, social, political, religious and industrial
movements in the past are positive proofs of the changes in the minds of the
people, due to the contactual and cultural influences of the peojAe that came
to live in Gujarat.

We have shown that every age and every period of development in the
history of the society of Gujarat set the type for the succeeding period,
determining its general character, if not the extent and rapidity of develop-
ment. We have shown that a religion or dogma in Gujarat grew, not when
it was extended over its territory, but when it absorbed and controlled
new peoples by subjecting them to the power of its life. All the economic
and legal and political institutions that we prized, were parts of a process
of growth. Their authority was the outgrowth of the past, and their future
form was to develop out of the then present.

India’s gift to the world has been the fair fabric of an Empire, a
Nationality founded on the basis of Universal Peace between man and every
sentient creature; a fabric that was ruthlessly shattered by the shock and
collision of historic forces. The Prime Maker of all History has perhaps
ordained that the world should pass through the process of a painful historic
development from the brute to the man.

The famous Edicts of Asoka at Junagadh at the foot of the Girnar Mts.
in Satira^ti^a, fully set forth the principles of Ahiihsa and catholicity
by which his great Empire was governed. In the early centuries of the 2nd
millennium was proclaimed the Ordinance of Non-slaughter
by Gurjaresvara Kumarapala. , ^

The end of the 2nd millennium reiterates the same gospel of Non-
slaughter and Non-violence under Mahatmi Gandhi’s lead. The Pancasila
prescribed by Buddha for peace within, have been put forward as a panacea
before the war-ridden world by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Mahatmi
Gandhi’s political heir. This philosophy has, however, been put to a severe
test by the recent Cliinese aggression from the north of the Himalayas,
which makes one sceptic about its efficacy for all times and for all people.

INDEX

A

Abundance of synonyms in

Gujarati 309

Acdra, external characteristics
of the masses 2S2

Adjustment of marriage 138

Agate 22

Age of Paurajoic Revival :

Samvat 1500-1700 342

Age of Pioneers of New Move-
ments : 1852-1886 A.D. 345

Age of Romanticism :

1886-1920 A.D. 345

Agriculture, main occupation 53
Ain-i-Akhari 26

Akho; poet 343

Akhydnas 6

Allegories in Gujarati

literature 319

Amir Khusru, court poet 251
Anarta 11

Anavils of South Gujarat 37
Ancient Indian Education, by

Keay, Dr. 350 fn.

Ancient Towns and Cities in
Gujarat and Kathiawar,
Altekar, Dr. 197 fn..

Angularity in figure-drawing 294
Animals, domesticated 25

Animal homes (Panjarapol) 200
Animal worship 243-244

Animism, features of 227

Apabhramsa, favours! by*

Gujarati scholars 305

Apabhrariuia, under Siddharaja 89
Aparahta, people of 15-16

Arabs, earliest Muslims in

Gujarat 249

Architecture : a national

growth 275

in Western India,
variety of material 275

4rchitectttre, Ancient period :

— upto 500 AD. 275-78

— The Early Mediaeval

period 500-1000 AD. 276

— The Mediaeval period

1000-1300 A.D. 277

— The Late Mediaeval

period 1300-1800 A.D. 278

Ardhanarilvara, symbolism of 221
ArthasSstra, of Kautilya 29, 53 fn.
Aryan immigrants SO

Aryan Settlements 35

Asceticism in Jainism 220

B

Bafta 82

Baijanath-Baiju ; a native of
Gujarat 301

Bajri, importation of 53

Bahdhani 86

Banjharas, carriers on land 72

Banjharas, in poetry 321

Bapusaheb ; saint-poet 344

Baramai songs’ 321

— inspired by trade 321

Barbosa’s account 69

Baroda Gazetteer, Vol. I 49 fn.
Baroda through the Ages 13

Barygaza, maritime activity 66

Baudhdj/ono Dharma Sutras 13

'Bhadra BhaminT : romance

of Samalbhatt, gives
glimpses of inland trade 338

‘Bhajana’, entertainment 302

‘Bhavai’ ; ‘Vegas’ or Scenes 274

— indigenous Gujarati

drama 224

Bhoja of Malwa 102 fn.

Bhdtas 234

Black magic, practice of 245

356

COLTURAt HISTORY OP GUJARAT

Bodice, Gujarati

262-63

Book— Illustrations

292

— aesthetic appeal thereoi

: 293

Brahmins

43

— Nagars

44

Branding, as protective magic 238

Brhat Sarhhitd

11 fn.

Bronze Art in Gujarat

286-87

Buddhism

205

Buddhist Viharas ; centres of

education

348

Burgess, Govt. Architect

8

C

‘Cabkahas’

317

Calico-printing in Gujarat

293

Cambay, port of

68

Campbell, James : historian

8

Candi-puja

222

— mahatmya

223

— a pacifying remedy

225

— Durgadevi Mahatmya

223

— Episode of

223-24

‘Carotara’

51

Carpet-weaving

88

Caste

40

Cautar (cloth)

84

Ceylon, relations with

74

Chain-stitch

87

Chalcolithic culture

13

‘City and Village’ : Tagore

169

City-gates and City-walls

278

Climate

18,29

Coast line

18

Coins, referred to in Hutidi

129

122-30

Colonization, spirit of

73

Commissariat, M. S., Prof.,

historian

55 fn.

Conch-bangles

268

Contours and Culture-zones

17

Conversion, from lower

castes

251

Costumes in VusantaviloM

miniatures 264>65

Cotton-growing 79, 81

Cousens, Dr., Architect 8

Criticism of life-values:

by Preminand 340

Critical Edition of Mughal
Farmans to Vitihaln&fhji,
Jhaveri, K. M. 215 fn.

Crompton’s Mule, invention of 85

Culture, sum-total of 9

Current coins in 17th century 129
D

Dalpatram, poet 6

Date of Mularaja’s accession 97
Dayaram, poet 6, 345

Decay of Vaisnavism 220

Democratic principles of IslSm

— in Sikkhism, and

— in Vaispavism of Caitanya 252

Desai Mohanlal, author 9

Desai Ramaplal, author 9

‘Desi’, or ‘indigenous tunes’ 320 fn.

— of different provinces 320
‘Desi’ tunes, named after

places 295

Deni Kavitta, by Sridhara 224
Devl-Yuddha, symbolism of 226
Dhanjibhoy, the ship-builder 77
Dhiro, saint-poet 344

Dhruva, A. B., Principal,

scholar 19 fn.

Dhruva, (K. Hi, Prof., scholar 35fn.
Dialectical differences in

Gujarati 308

Didacticism, element of 340

Difference in language of

different religious groups 303
Divisions of sub-castes:

Visa, Da^ etc. 37 fn.

‘Poti’ 83

Drapery in sculptures 281

IMDKX

857

Drawing and Painting 287

— domestic drawings on
walls

Dress, governed by quasi-
religious sanction 259

— heightens attraction 260

— psychology of 259

— restricted to typical forms 259
‘DOtahgada*, a Ch&ya-nataka 273

E

Earliest masonry of bricks 280

Early Aryans in Gujarat :

K. M, Munshi, Dr. 50 fn.
Early Settlements 35

Education: an adjustment

for the rising generation 346

Education in Middle Ages 347

— culture of the soul 347

Education socializes the

individual 345

Educational agencies in

society 346

Elephant 29

Embroidery, artistic kinds of 87

Encouragement to Sanskrit

learning under Peshwas 352

P

‘Faga’ and ‘Hipdor 269

Fairs : sources of recreation 271
Family, organization of 319

Famines and migrations 54,62
Famine relief 56, 57

Fertility deities • • 235

Fire-worshippers 246-47

First-fruits of harvest 236

Flooding rivers 61

— flood in Reva 61

Flora and fauna 25

Folk-songs of sea-faring life 338
Pood and Drink 257

Forbes, A. K., historian 8

Forests 29

G

Gfiekwads 112-14

Gardes and Orchards 270

‘Garabo’ ; continuation of ‘R5sa’ 296

‘Garabo’, physical aspect 296

‘Garabas’ of Sakti-worship 344

Gems and beads, protectives 237

Geographical factors,

influence of 20

Geology and Mineral

resources 25 fn.

Giridhar, poet 344

Glorious Period of Gujarati
Literature ;

Samvat 1700-1820 343-44

Godlings of Nature 228

— eclipses

— comets I

— floods

Gopinath Malek of Surat 136

Grind-stone, symbol of

fertility 243

Groups in society 2

Growth of new towns 195

— dimensions 196

Guilds — ^very influential in

cities 199

Gujarat cattle 26

— buffaloes 26

Gujarat at cross-roads 345

Gujarat’ : name 19

Gujarat Sultans, ‘Lords of the

Sea’ 75

Gujarati craftsmen : requi-
sitioned at Fatehpur Sikri 293
Gujarati Dress 261

Gujarati, a language of the

people 310

'Gujarati literature, general

spirit 316

Gujarati Sanskrit poets,

wrote for India 804

Gujarati society, traits 8

358

CULTUEAI- HISTORV OP GUJARAT

Gupta and Post-Gupta

sculptures from Gujarat 285

H

*Hallisaka’ or Cowherd dance 297
Harappan sites 13

Hathisingh’s temple 284

Headgear (Mukuta) 265

Hemacandra Suri, a writer

of many works 101-02

Heresy-hunting, absent in

Hinduism 255

Heroic couplets in Hema-

candra’s ‘Grammar* 133

Heroic strain in poetry 339

Highlanders 33

Hindu family 139

— joint family 140

Hindu fold, open to outsiders 256
Hindu immigrants in Java 73
Hindu Polity,

Jayaswal, K. P. 114fn.

Hindu society, divisions of 42
Hinduism 201

Hinduism — Neo 210-11

Hindustani, the lingua franga

of India 313

History of Gujarat, political 3

History of Vaisnavism,

Shastrl Durgashankar 219 fn.
Home, a school for girls
Horses 27

I

Ideal of kingship 117

Impact of Hinduism on Islam 283

Indian Archaeology :

A Review : 1954-55 13

Indian Architecture : Islam,

Brown, Percy 293 fn.

Individualistic spirit in family
folk-song of fCera
KAvto 141-42

Influence of Persian on Gujarat 312

Influx of strangers

37

Iron ore

22

Islwi

248<S5

J

Jagadu caritra

54-55

Jaina temples

27B

Jainism 206, 207, 208, 209

Jayamangald on Kdmasutras

11 fn.

Jinavijayaji, Muni : scholar

9

Jivardja setha ni Musdfari,

— allegory of trade of

merchandise

321

Joint family 14, 140, 142,

143, 145

Junagadh Rock-Inscription

15

K

Kaccha

15

‘Kadaihbari* verse-version by

Bhalan

342

‘K^is’

317

‘Kaldar’, significance of

130

Kamdar, K. H., Prof.

9

‘Kanam’

52

Kdvyamlmdrhsd of Raja-

sekhara

14, 305

Khabardar, poet

2, 19

Khojas

253

‘Kirtanas’ of ‘Asta-chhap’

poets^ — Caturbhu j ad as

219

K^atriyas

45

‘KsetTa* or plantations

51

K^trapala

229

L

Lady’s dress : three pieces 261

Lond— proprietorship 121

Land revenue, collected in kind 178

moBx

35S

Language, a fundamental of

gregarious existence 303

Lata 11, 16

Law governing Gujarat 130

Life-sketch of Vitthaleivara,.

Teliwala Mulacandra 219

Lion — Gir 28

Literacy in a society : a scribe
from Gol& caste 352

Literature a linking force 309

Literature and Society 6

Luxuries, influence of

Muslim contact 269 fn.

M

Mddhavdnala Kamakandald

Prabahdha by Ganapati 343

Madresah

Magic circle, protections 239

Mahomedan architecture

of Ahmedabad 281-82

Mahomedan Contact on food 258

‘Mahamarl’ or cholera 230

Maktabs 350

Manabhats : story-tellers 297

Man’s dress, contrasted with

a woman’s 259

Manufacture in Gujarat 78

Marriage :

— ‘family’ grew out of

marriage 139

— joint family system 140

— evils thereof ; folk-song 141

— disintegration in joint

family ascribed to
Kaliyuga 142

— sanctity of, and symbol-

ism of Ardhanarisvara 143

— genuine interests of man

and woman, reconciled
in marriage 144

— monogamy, the ideal

in marriage 145

— other arrangements tried

in marriage as recorded
in Smrtis ' 145

— • polygamy tolerated 145

— relation between joint

family, marriage and
caste 145

— ‘endogamous’ marriage 146

— rituals in marriage 147

— spiritual underlies the

physical in marriage
ritual 148

— ‘wifehood’ by love and

self-surrender 148

— child-marriages 149

— widow'iemarriage, not

permitted 149

— exception of Vastup&la's

mother 149

— infant-marriages in

Kadva Patidars 150

— girls sold to higher bidder 150

— female-infanticide 151

— male children! prized more

than female 151

— enforced widowhood 152

— reverence due to

widows : Tydga-

murti 153

— ‘Dirge on a widow’s lot’

by Sarojini Naidu 153

— 'Satr or suicide of

widows 153, 154, 155

— remarriage among Parsis 157

— young brides to old

husbands ; evil record-
ed by Vallabha-
bhatt in song 158

— infant bridegroom for a

grown-up bride 159

160, 161,162

— disparity of culture

among a married couple,
bewailed 162

360

CULTURAL HISTORY OF GUJARAT

— lot of a husband of

two wives 162-63

— lot of co-wives 163

— ‘Stridhana’, a woman’s

absolute property 164

— women, queens of the

household 165

— domination of a woman

due to patriarchism 166

— an ideal of a happy

home 166-67

‘Mayukha’, Hindu Law

applicable to Gujarat 130-32
Mediaeval Hindu India,

Vol. Ill, Vaidya, C. V. 41 fn.
Mehr, S. S., Dr., Geologist 25 fn.
‘Memoirs’ 253

Memorial stones: KhadibM 175

— rescue by village martyrs 175

Mendelso’s ‘Accoimt’ 82

Merchant or Vai^a 189

— chief occupations 190

— rise of Middle Class in

Gujarat 189-91

— Merchant-Princes 198-201
Metals, discovery of 21

Miniatures of Devi Mdhatmya 226
Miniature-Painting, Gujarati

School of 292

Minerals 21

Mineral springs 22

Mirror-glass in embroidery 87
Mission of Poetry ; according

to Samal & Akho 339

‘Monitor system’ in education 348
Moralising in Swaminarayapa
poets 340

Mortgaging of ‘Kedara raga’,

by Narasimha Mehta 301
Mortgaging ‘Todi Raginl’

by Sitaramayya 301

Mother-worship 221-226

Mukunda, poet 344

Munshi, K. M., novelist and

scholar 8

Musalmans, foreign 39

Music in Gujarati communal

life 298

Music propensity of the Vf^pis 116
Muslim missionaries: 250

— Abdullah 250

— Islamic 253

Muslim style of Gujarat

Architecture 278

— three divisions 278

Mutd Neim ki Khyata 19 fn.

N

Nagar ladies, proficient in

music

300

Nagar Brahmins

185

NaikadevI, regent-queen

103

Nanalal, poet

28 fn.

Narmadasankar, poet

8,11,19

‘Nation’, definition

2

National Character, E. Barker 2

Natural divisions

17

Navalram, poet 17 fn..

30 fn.

Navaratra festival

269

New Religion ; characteristics 202
Nineteenth century, Gujarat

in the

3, 10

Niranta, poet-saint

344

Nose-ring

266-67

Numbers, mysticism of

• •

o

241

Oldest ports on Gujarat

coast

66

Omens, Sakuna

232

— interpretation of

232

— secular paintings of

232 fn.

Ornaments, significance .

266

Origin of Hindu drama

288

mDEX

361

P

‘Pada’ ' 317

Paleoliths in Gujarat 12

Tancasila’, preached by

Pandit Nehru 354

Painted-scrolls 289

Painter class in society 295

Painters of Lata 289

Taliyas’, memorial stones 241

Panegyrics of kings in

Sanskrit 339 fn.

Panther 29

Paradise, Muslim idea of 248 fn.

Pdrasi-PraMsa by Krsnaddsa 314
Pars! Priest’s Sanskrit

composition 247-248

Pdrsi Ndma-mdldj by Thakkura
Vikrama Singh 314

Parsis, their history 247 fn.

Tatolis of Patan’ 86

Period of Apabhramsa literature
(1100 to 1500 A.D.) 341

Period of Mahomedan Rule

(1297-1752 A.D.) 106-112

Period of Political Unrest,

Samvat 1820-1908 344

Persian banquet with Gujarati

dishes, in ‘Syavaksanama’ 258

Persian, court-language under

Mughals 89

Persian words relating to
revenue, administration
& law 314

Peshkash (revenue) ^ • 122

Pessimism or Fatalism in

Gujarati literature 319

Petroleum & Natural gas,

disovery of, in Gujarat 24

Phrases of sea-faring life 339 fn
Pictorial Art of Gujarat :

religious & secular 289

Pirana sect 254

Plains 33

Political History : 300 B.C.

to c. 789 A.D. 90.-95

Polytheism, in a monotheistic

way 256

Popular Vai^navism of

Vallabha * 219

Population, density 51

Portrait-painting of Minaldevi 290
Portuguese Vocables in
Asiatic Languages
by Soares, A. X. 315 fn.

Trabahdhas’ of Jaina Yatis 320
Prdcina Gadya Sandarbhay

ed. by Jinavijayaji 341

Prdcina Gurjara Kdvya
Samgraha, ed. by C. D.

Dalai 341

Prernananda, a great poet 343
Preponderance of Persian
words in Tanamalla
Chanda’ and ‘Kanhadde
Prabahdha’ 312

Private elementary schools 352

Professional bard 298

Propagation of Ahimsa :

Asoka, Kumarapala &

Mahatma Gandhi 354

Prthvicandra Carita, by

Manikyacandra Suri 341

Prthvirdja Rdso : reference

to Bhima II, 104

Ptolemy’s reference 67

Public buildings (secular) 197

Public service 132-137

Puga & Mahattara 176

Punyavijayaji, Muni, scholar 9

Puppet-shows 273

Purification of morals by

Mediaeval poets 341

Pyjama 265

R

Race of warriors and

agriculturists 53

362

CULTURAX. HISTORY OF GUJARAT

Raja-vyavahdra-koia by

Dhu^^iraja 314

Ramacandra muni, poet &

dramatist 103

Ra^cho^ji of Dw&rkS :
symbol of an autocratic
chief 202

— philological meaning 203

Ranga Bhumi Parishad,

Parishad Proceedings :
by ‘Suhdari’ 274 fn.

Ranajitr^, author 8

Rare racial groups 34

RSsadharis 218

Rdsaka : three varieties : 296

— Dan^a-Rasaka, Tala*

Rasaka, Lati-Rasaka 296

‘Risas’ of Jaina poets 320

Rasiklal Parikh, Prof. 9

Ratnamanirao, author 8

Ratnesvara, poet 343

Recruitment in army 135

Recurring themes in literature 318

Religion, a common theme in

literature : 318

Religion & Folklore of

Northern India 231 fn.

Religion & Society : 201

— preachers & prophets

children of their time &
race 201

— social origin 216

Religion & Trade : sister-arts : 271

Religion of the Masses 226-246

Religious movements, later

times 245-46

Religious shows from

Kr^a’s life 273

Religious suicide, types of : 233

Republics in Saimastra : 114-116

Republics of Sauragtra : Lovers
of Music 299

Revenue & Taxation 119

Revolt against blood-purity

and upheaval of the
lowliest 203

Rivers & land-approaches 31

Romantic stories in literature 319
'Rosary’ or prayer-beads : 238

Ruins of temples, Solanki

period 277

Ruling chiefs, protectors of

Brahmin and Cow 187

S

‘Sakhi’ & ‘Dohara’ 317

Sakti-pithas in Gujarat 225

Sakti-worship among Jainas 226

Salt, its protective power 238

Salt-petre 22

Samal-bhatt : on merits of

Sanskrit & Gujarati speech 305
Samalbhatt, poet 6, 25, 48

‘Samaja’ & ‘Go§thi’ : village-

concerts & festivities 269
‘Samarpapis’, their moral decay 220
Samayasundara, poet 344

Sand-pictures on temple-floor 218
Sanskrit dramas composed

in Gujarat 274

Sanskrit Pdra^ Bhia?a Racand

by Vedangaraya 314

Sanskrit Texts on Architec-
ture : civil & religious 279
Sari — ^its import : 262

Sastri Durga^nkar, author 9
Sathia & Rahgoli 291

‘Satr, fnom Brahmin caste 231 fn.
Saurasenl dialect of

Apabhramsa : 307

Saura^pra 11

— an island 20 fn.

Scarcity, result of Kali age 60
Sculptural Art in Western

India 285

Sea-approaches 32

Self-mortiiication, ways of 233 fn.

morac

m

S^ice of village artisans

for community 184

Shahi Bag, a famine-relief

work 59

Shahi Bag Palace 284

Ship-building in Surat 77

Ship-building yards 78

Ships for Mecca at Surat 77

Shipping trade 75

‘Siddha Haima’ Grammar 341

Siddharaja’s titles 101

Siddharaja Jayasimha 38

— minars & towers 279

Silting of Cambay Gulf 64

*Sltala’ or small-pox 230

— dhydna of 230 fn.

‘Sitaao’ famine 55

Smrti law-made religion,

social : 204

Social unity among Gujaratis :

reasons for 309

Soil 30

— Kanham, Carotar,

Vakal, etc. 30

Somanath Pafan 71

Sources, cultural history of 7

Soznis 84 fn.

Spinning of cotton in

villages :

— supplimentary occupation 193

— domestic occupation &
home industry

194

Statuary (conventional) of
Acaryas & kings • •

288

Stone, worship of

242

Strings & knots, as
protectives

239

Studies in Pdrsi History,
HodiwSla, Prof.

40

Stdpas :

276

— Bora Devi, In^va,
SSmalSji

276

Subbarao, B., Dr.

(the late Archaeologist) IS.fn.

Sudar^ana lake and floods

61

Slidras

48

Siifism,

251

— popularising Vedflntic

doctrines

252 fn.

Surabhatt, poet

344

Surat, Mughal port

70

Slltradhara Mapqlana :

286

— his works on Architecture

and Sculpture

286

Swaminarayapa, Sahajanaflda,

religious reformer 219, 221

— poets of the sect

221

T

Taboo against onions

257

Tank and step-wells

278

Tarikh-i~Sorafh, by Divan

Ranchodji,

225

Tattooing, called ‘Trfijuda’

268

Temple-architecture, with

profuse sculptures :

280

Temple-architecture under

Marathas

284

Temple, centre of village

activities

270

Temples at Mt. Abu

105

Temples on Saurastra coast

276

Temple, in village life

183

Tenures, joint-holding

181

The Anahilwad Kings

(810-1297 A.D.)

95

The Crowji of Hinduism,

Farquhar, Dr.

165 fn.

The Maratha Rule :

' (1752-1818)

112-114

Tiger

28

Todd, Col., historian

8

Trade with Arabia

76

Trade with China

76

364

CULTURAL HISTORY OF GUJARAT

Trade-routes 63, 64, 65

Trade in Sauriftra ports 71

Trade, second occupation • 63
Tradition of ‘Rasa’, mentioned

in San^taratnakara

299 fn.

Travel, source of wit

338

Tree-wordiip

244-245

Tripathi GovardhanarSm,

novelist

8

Typical village school

351

U

Umashankar Joshi, poet

19

Untouchables

48

V

Vai^ava ‘Havelis*

284

Vai$navism, a living religion

of the masses of Gujarat 218

Vaisnavism : 202,

203, 212,

213, 214,

215, 217

Vaisyas

46

Vallabhabhatt 56-57, 343

Vallabhdkhydna, by

Gopaldas

215-216

Veraval

72

Varnamdld, teaching of

349

Vasanta-vil&sa : illustrated

scroll

342

‘Vikrama Cycle’ stories, a great

social force

316

Village administration ;

— protection of person

& property

177

— not disturbed by change

of dynasties

178

Village Communities in

Western India,

Altekar, Dr.

173 fn.

Village communities:

171

‘Vi§aya’, ‘Ahara’

— administrative units

171

— administrative officers

171

— Hindu period

173

— under Gupta & Maitraka

rulers

174

— village-councils

175

Village feast, Ujdnt

184

Village-godlings

229

Village justice & settlanent of

disputes

176

Village Pahcayats

Village school, ref. in

177

Nakar’s Candrdhdsakhy&'na 152

Village, unit of communal

life

— typical Gujarati

168

village

170, 182

Vimala Prahandha
Vimalaprahandha by

47

Lavanyasamaya

342

‘Vinaya Said'

Vi?ti, tax on labour

351

(forced labour)

179

Vitthalesvara Goswami

— developed aesthetic

modes of worship

214, 215,
216. 217

Vocabulary of Gujarati

language

310-311

Vyas Tribhuvan, poet

26 fn.

W

Watson, J. K., historian

8

Well, in village life

183

Western coastal territories

67

Widow’s dress, solid colours 263

Woman in World History,

by E. White

156 fn.

Wopd-sculpture of Gujarat
Words from Portuguese in

286

Gujarati

315

y

Yasovijayaji : poet

344

Yavano-ndma-mdld,

Sanskrit-Persian Lraicon 314